Parents are facing a school places crisis, town hall chiefs have warned.
Schools are reaching a "tipping point" and will struggle to find space for almost a million more pupils over the next decade, according to the Local Government Association (LGA).
It cautions that in some areas there will be neither the money nor the space to expand, and said its analysis had shown it will cost £12bn to create enough places for the extra 900,000 pupils.
However, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan accused the association, which represents local councils, of "worrying" parents as they apply for primary school places.
The deadline for school applications is 15 January and already thousands of parents will be unable to get their child into the school they want.
The most recent figures from the Department for Education show that one in eight children will fail to get a place in the primary school of their choice.
Mrs Morgan said intensifying pressure on school places was due to an increase in birth rate but said £5bn had been invested in extra spaces in this parliament and £7bn was being invested between now and 2021.
She told Sky News there would never come a time where schools could not accommodate children because "local authorities have a statutory duty to provide school places for every child."
Mrs Morgan said: "I think it's unfortunate that the Local Government Association is choosing to worry parents at this stage."
Overcrowded schools across the country have been forced to build playgrounds on roofs after outside space was used to accommodate temporary classrooms. Some are teaching in church halls and even double-decker buses.
However, the head of the LGA said the problem could not be solved at a local level.
David Simmonds, chairman of the LGA's children and young people board, said: "Mums and dads rightly expect their children to be able to get a school place and councils and schools are doing everything they can to provide this, in some cases going to extraordinary lengths to create places.
"But we fear a tipping point could soon emerge when councils and schools can no longer afford the massive costs for the creation of places, nor find the space necessary for new classes, if this crisis is not properly dealt with."
The LGA has warned that in some areas this year there will be two pupils fighting for every school place.
Conservative Education Minister Nick Gibb blamed the last Labour government for failing to plan for the future.
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