With the first round of secondary school places released this week, the early signs were that a significant number of children failed to secure places at their chosen Jewish schools.

At Rosh Pinah Primary School, in London, 17 of its 54 year six pupils were without a place.

Yavneh College head Spencer Lewis said that the maximum 150 places had been offered from a pool of 541 applicants.

JCoSS head Patrick Moriarty stressed that "out of the 180 places, a significant proportion of places have been offered to new families in our first round" - children who do not have siblings at JCoSS nor attend a feeder school.

In Redbridge, King Solomon High School said that a third of its 150 places had been offered to Jewish children.

Headteacher Matthew Slater pledged 30 extra places for applicants who had been unsuccessful at Jewish schools in north London.

He said: "We recognise the pressure on the other Jewish secondary schools and the desire of families to be able to send their children to a Jewish school."

Families without their first choice will now have to wait for the next round of admission in a few weeks' time.