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Whereas education inequality has attracted wide scholarly attention, there has been little attention paid to the spatial patterns of schools or, more specifically, the spatial equity of secondary schools. This study investigates the spatial patterns of secondary schools (regular vs. key) in Guangzhou, China and disparities in school accessibility among different social groups at the neighbourhood level. We use a two‐step floating catchment area method to measure school accessibility. Our results demonstrate strong spatial disparities in secondary school accessibility in Guangzhou and further underscore significant associations between the access to secondary schools, especially key schools, and neighbourhood characteristics. This study helps to document salient spatial inequity in China's current education system and suggests that efforts should be made to reduce the country's spatial inequity in secondary education. Key Messages: Access to secondary schools, especially prestigious key schools, is highly unequitable in urban China.Accessibility of key secondary schools is significantly associated with socio‐economic characteristics of a neighbourhood.Due to both socialist and market mechanisms, neighbourhoods with higher socio‐economic status have greater access to (better) secondary education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]