On Monday, parents across the UK will be told whether their children got into their primary school of choice. Tens of thousands are expected to be told that they will not obtain their first preference. Membership of the EU means we are completely unable to control EU migration, and that puts unsustainable pressure on school places. This will only get worse with five more countries - Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey - in the pipeline to join the EU.

The fact is, the UK has to pay £350 million to the EU every week - if we Vote Leave we can take back control over that money and reinvest it in our vital public services.

Commenting, Priti Patel MP said:

‘The shortage of primary school places is yet another example of how uncontrolled migration is putting unsustainable pressures on our public services. Education is one of the most important things that Government delivers, and it's deeply regrettable that so many families with young children are set to be disappointed today.

‘The truth is that for as long as we remain a member of the EU we are completely unable to control the numbers of people coming to this country - and with another five countries in the pipeline to join the EU the problem is set to get even worse.

‘If we Vote Leave we can take back control of our borders. We can also take back control of the £350 million we send to the EU every single week, and reinvest it in our vital and invaluable public services.

‘This is yet another example of how Britain can look forward to a more prosperous, more secure future if we Vote Leave.’

Notes to editors

EU migration is putting additional pressure on school places.

• According to the UK Statistics Authority, an estimated 25,000 school children with EEA nationality came into the UK in 2014 (UKSA, 14 April 2016, link).

• This equates to £115.3m of additional spending.

• Between 2005 and 2014, there were 475,935 live births to mothers who were EU citizens (UK Statistics Authority, 15 March 2016, link). The number of births to EU mothers rose from 24,942 in 2005 to 64,067 in 2014, an increase of 157% (UK Statistics Authority, 15 March 2016, link). This is the equivalent of adding a city the size of Manchester to the UK population (population is 503,100) (ONS, 2012, link)

• Pressure from immigration via the EU is only going to increase if we vote to remain in the EU. Countries that are currently in the accession process include Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey (European Commission, August 2015, link). Once these countries join, they will eventually gain free movement rights to come to the UK - putting even more pressure on school places.

• The publication of a Government report into the impact of migration on primary school places is reportedly being delayed until after the EU referendum (Sunday Telegraph, 17 April 2016). Vote Leave believes this report should be published before the referendum.

Just 2.4% of our gross EU contributions could eliminate the shortfall in school places in England.

• It has been estimated that as many as 100,000 parents will miss their first preference for primary school places on Monday 18 April (Daily Mail, March 2016, link).

• The 2015-2016 schools block unit of funding is £4612.11 per pupil (Education Funding Agency, March 2016, link: tab: '2015-2016 DSG allocations'). 100,000 additional school places would therefore cost £461.2 million.

• Our gross contribution to the EU in 2014 was £19.107 billion (ONS, Pink Book 2015, link: tab 9.9).

• 100,000 additional school places would therefore cost just 2.41% of our annual gross contribution to the EU.

It would take less than ten days to fund the necessary number of school places for everyone to get their first preference.

• The £461.2m needed to fund the additional 100,000 school places is just over a week’s worth of contributions to the EU (£367m per week).

• This means that if we Vote Leave and decided to spend the £350m a week that we currently give to the EU on our priorities, we could make up the school places shortfall in less than 9 days.