Tens of thousands of disappointed parents lodged appeals last year after their children were refused places at schools, figures showed.

Statistics published by the Department for Education showed a big leap in the numbers of parents appealing against primary school allocations.

In total, 88,270 appeals were lodged against primary and secondary school allocations in 2008/09, up from 86,020 the previous year - a 2.6 per cent increase.

Of these, 63,720 were heard by independent panels, up from 61,950 in 2007/08.

Parents won 19,060 of these cases, forcing schools to accept their children. This is a slight fall in the number of successful appeals from the year before.

Ministers said the figures showed that increasing numbers of parents are unhappy with the school choices available to them.

The statistics show that parents lodged 38,080 appeals against primary school allocations alone - a 16.8 per cent rise on 2007/08, when the figure stood at 32,600.

Of the appeals lodged, 25,890 were heard by independent panels, compared to 22,220 - an increase of almost 3,700.

And more primary school appeals were decided in favour of the parents - 6,460 in total, up from 6,190 in the previous year.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said: "The level of dissatisfaction underlines why it is so important we change the schools system so providers like teacher groups and charities can open new state schools wherever parents want them; and give outstanding schools the freedoms they need to help improve those in more challenging circumstances.

"By putting education in the hands of parents and professionals, rather than bureaucrats, we can raise standards in all our schools, particularly in the poorest areas where problems are most acute."

All parents have the right to appeal to an independent panel if any school they applied to refuses them a place.

The system allows parents to argue that schools broke official admissions rules or that there are "compelling" extra reasons why their child deserves a place.

Today's figures:

• Parents lodged 50,200 appeals after being refused places for their children by secondary schools - this is down slightly on the previous year when the figure stood at 53,430.

• Of these, 37,830 were heard by independent panels, again down slightly on 39,720 in 2007/08.

• Fewer secondary school appeals were decided in favour of parents - 12,600 were won, down from 12,970 the previous year.

The figures show that primary school appeals have almost doubled since 2004, when 20,660 were lodged.