An 11-year-old missed out on all the secondary schools she wanted and instead has been offered a place at an academy which was previously in special measures. Courtney Wells, of Birmingham, was one of thousands of children in England who were left disappointed after they missed out on their first choice secondary school place when they were notified yesterday. Her parents listed four schools in order of preference for their daughter but missed out on them all. Instead the 11-year-old, who is due to start year seven in September, has been offered a place at Bournville School and Sixth Form Centre. The school became an academy last November after it was placed in special measures in 2013 following a damning Ofsted report which rated it 'inadequate'. Courtney's mother Stacey Wells, 31, said: 'Courtney was really engaged in the whole process of deciding what school she wanted to go to. She went to look at all the schools. Courtney Wells, 11, missed out on all four of her choices for Birmingham secondary schools and was instead offered a place at an academy previously in special measures. Her mother Stacey is appealing the decision . 'We put a white board up in the kitchen and after each open evening she weighed up the pros and cons and gave the school a score out of ten. That's how she decided which schools she would choose. 'We are not wholly surprised that she didn't get into the university school as it looked so amazing that we were expecting it to be inundated with applicants. But we thought she would at least get one of her other choices. Birmingham was one of the worst areas where children missed out on their first choices as secondary school places were confirmed yesterday. A third of children in the city missed out on their first choice school compared to just two per cent in Cornwall. Councils notified parents of their children's fate yesterday by email or letter, meaning some families will not receive the news for several days. Courtney was rejected from her first choice University of Birmingham School (top left), which is being built, her second Shenley Academy (top right), which is closer to her home than the place she has. She was refused her third St Paul's School for Girls (bottom left) and her fourth, Colmers Senior School (bottom right) The 11-year-old applied for four schools - three of which were within 2.5 miles of her home but was rejected and given a place at Bournville School and Sixth Form Centre which was put into special measures in 2013 . 'It is such a worrying time, all we want is the best for our daughter. We are going to appeal and fight this all the way.' The decision to offer Courtney a place at the academy came despite the site being further away from her home than her second choice school. She was also rejected from Colmers School in Rednal, despite having a foster sibling already at the school. Her parents have vowed to appeal the decision. They decided to put just four choices on the form instead of take advantage of listing six options because they thought this would be enough. They listed University of Birmingham School, Selly Oak; Shenley Academy, Northfield; St Paul's School for Girls, Edgbaston and Colmers School, Rednal, as their choices. Courtney was rejected from all four of her secondary school choices, despite her second preference being closer to her home and one of her choices being at a school where one of her foster siblings is a pupil . She has been offered a place at Bournville School and Sixth Form Centre, put in special measures in 2013 . The couple's first choice for their daughter, currently a pupil at St Brigid's RC Primary School in Northfield, was the new University of Birmingham School, which is opening its doors for the first time in September. A spokeswoman for the school said it had received a staggering 1,100 applications for its 150 places, with 377 pupils putting it as their first choice. Courtney's parents have been told their daughter is currently in 177th place on the waiting list for a place at the sought-after free school, which is financially backed by the university and which has promised it will provide a private education standard without charging fees. The Year 7 intake will consist of 75 pupils living around its site in Bristol Road, Selly Oak, while another 75 will come from homes near Hall Green, Small Heath and the Jewellery Quarter railway stations. Peter Hay, Birmingham City Council's director of people, said: 'If you have applied for an academy, foundation, grammar, voluntary aided or free school and want to appeal against their decision, then you must contact that school directly for details of their appeal arrangements.' Under the admissions system, families list their school preferences and are then allocated places according to the schools’ admissions criteria. Many children living in big cities were left disappointed yesterday, and this graph shows the percentage of children who got their first choice secondary school when the places were announced on Monday . Factors can include proximity to the school, faith or ability – with some schools specifying how many bright, average and low ability pupils they will admit. A spokesman for the council said: 'The school admissions team has processed over 15,000 applications for secondary school places this year. Parents in Birmingham can submit up to six preferences, including grammar schools, and we always advise that parents are realistic when making their preferences. 'The advice from the local authority is that parents include at least one preference for a nearby school where their child would have got in under the distance criterion in the past. For the vast majority of families the reason they do not get the first preference is because other children better met the school's admission criteria than their child.' Yesterday more than half a million pupils were notified of their places and a number of appeals are expected.
Courtney Wells listed four  secondary schools she wanted to go to . But the 11-year-old missed out on all her school choices in Birmingham . Instead she was offered place at academy put into special measures . Courtney's parents have vowed to appeal the decision over her place . Was turned down from a school where one of her foster siblings is a pupil . Courtney is currently in 177th place for her first choice secondary school . She is one of thousands of children who were left disappointed yesterday . In Birmingham 32 per cent of 11-year-olds - 4,000 - were left disappointed .