Horsham children facing 32-mile round trip to school: Council speaks out

Angry parents were informed last week that their children had not been allocated secondary school places at any of their three preferred schools.

Instead, more than 21 children in Southwater were told they had been allotted places 16 miles from their homes at Burgess Hill Academy.

Another 29 in Horsham were rejected for places at their chosen local schools. Some were allocated places at single-sex schools, against their parents’ wishes.

A spokesperson for West Sussex County Council said today: “Everyone who applied for a secondary school place in West Sussex has been offered one, with the overwhelming majority of children, 96.1 per cent of applicants, being offered one of their three preference secondary schools, and 86.4 per cent offered their first preference school.

“We do everything we can to offer every child one of their preference schools. However, there will be a small number of families to whom we are unable to meet their preferred schools.

"This can be for a variety of reasons as detailed in our oversubscription criteria policy and we recognise how frustrating this can be for families in these situations, including those in the Horsham area, where this year a further increase in the popularity of co-educational secondary schools has created particular pressure there this year.

"Our Schools Admissions Team is on hand to offer support to families in this situation and provide further advice on the options available by emailing [email protected].”

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Anger grows over rejection of Horsham children’s choice of secondary schools

The spokesperson pointed out that birth rates fluctuate every year and that pressure on secondary school places is expected to drop significantly in future years because of fewer numbers of children reaching secondary school age.

It is the council’s admissions policy – where schools are oversubscribed – to offer a place at the nearest available school.

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Academy schools control their own admission arrangements. The county council says many do not want to admit large numbers of additional pupils as that could have an effect on education to all pupils.

The council says it is a factor that independent admission appeal panels take into account when considering appeal cases.