Every secondary school in Lambeth was oversubscribed this year, a council report reveals.

Applications were highest at Dunraven School in Streatham, with 1162 people competing for 192 places- roughly six applicants for every place. The Elmgreen School in Tulse Hill was the second most popular, recording 689 applicants for about 180 places, according to a report submitted to the school’s admissions forum on Tuesday.

As part of the school application process, parents in the borough can choose six schools in order of preference for their child, and are offered one. They can then appeal if they are unhappy with the allocated school.

305 parents put Dunraven as their first choice- confirming it as the most popular school in the borough.

Lambeth Council cabinet member for children and young people, Councillor Pete Robbins, insisted the competition for school places reflected the borough’s improving exam results, but said there were plans to expand certain schools to cope with future demand.

He said: "Overall demand for secondary school places are met year-on-year and every Lambeth child who applied for a school place at a Lambeth secondary school has always received an offer. More than 80 per cent of applications from within the borough are always offered their first choice preference with this year’s applications showing no change in this trend."

But Councillor Ashley Lumsden, leader of Lambeth’s Liberal Democrat group, said the council had failed to tackle the oversubscription problem despite key warning signs.

He said: "We have got a growing crisis of school places for both secondary and primary schools.

"The schools have become more and more successful but the council have not done enough to find new places. Having had the warnings for a long time, the council did not respond."

The news comes as Labour councillors dismissed the Government’s pledged investment of £4.9million to the borough’s schools as "a slap in the face". Demand for primary school places has risen by 40 per cent in some areas, forcing the council to admit that it will not be able to guarantee a school place for every child by 2015.