Parents have one day left to put in Midland primary school applications

The deadline for applications across the whole of the Black Country and Staffordshire is tomorrow and with an increased demand on places this year parents are urged to make sure their requests are in on time.

Local authorities across the region have had to increase the number of primary school places available in recent months due to a baby boom.

Expansion programmes are in place in Staffordshire, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

Pupil rolls across Staffordshire are expected to rise by 5,000 by the end of 2014/15, with a baby boom and new housing developments being blamed for the increase. Sherbrook Primary School in Cannock and Roacklands School in Lichfield, have been given funding for new places by the Government.

Meanwhile a 30 per cent increase in the number of births in Wolverhampton means the local authority is looking to increase capacity by 200 at two schools.

The city's education boss Councillor Philip Page is urging parents to get their application forms in as soon as possible.

The cabinet member for education said: "Wolverhampton schools are very popular, some more than others, so it's important that people get their applications in.

"Parents need to get them in on time so their children can be considered alongside everyone else, and it may be that if they are submitted late they will miss out on the place they want."

The birth rate in Sandwell has rocketed by 26 per cent in the past seven years, meaning the council has been pumping funding into expanding some of its primary schools, with 200 places created at three schools in West Bromwich and Tividale.

In Walsall it is projected that the number of children starting in reception class this year could rise by 230.

Dudley Council has also been given government cash to create extra school places - although officials say they have not seen the same demand as in other areas.