Parents have complained they are being left out of the loop on moves to review school catchment areas.

On March 1, families across Britain will find out which secondary school their children have been allocated.

The spotlight will be on Brighton and Hove, where, for the first time, a combination of catchment areas and an electronic lottery will be used to determine places at its nine schools.

Parents have been waiting to discover how they will be affected by the system since submitting their application forms in the autumn.

On March 17, a couple of weeks after the allocations are published, Brighton and Hove City Council schools' committee will be asked to ratify changes to the catchment areas.

They will be proposed by council officers who have been carrying out a review based on data on the choices of parents of the first set of pupils going through the system.

Parents have complained they should have been given a say on the review, which follows the controversial introduction of the system last year.

Mark Bannister, of campaign group Schools 4 Communities, said the lack of consultation seemed to be breaching a manifesto commitment made by Conservative councillors ahead of city elections in May last year.

He said: "They used Labour's schools policy as a big stick in the May elections and they gained substantially as a result. If they now try to bury the issue as they seem to want to do, there will be a backlash."

The council has sent out consultation letters to schools across the city asking for their views on the admissions systems which have been put in place.

Their responses will be considered before the March 17 meeting.

The council said it did not have a requirement to consult the public over the review.

Assistant education director Gil Sweetenham said: "There is a statutory requirement to consult with the schools, which we are doing. Once that is completed there is the publication of the process for the following year."

The admissions system agreed last February provoked divided opinion and angry public protests.

It was designed to resolve a problem where people in areas of east Brighton and along the seafront could not get their children into any of their nearest schools.

Six catchment areas were established guaranteeing that youngsters would no longer be dispatched to schools on the other side of the city from their homes.

A lottery system was brought in to divide pupils between schools in two joint catchment areas.

Opponents argued the catchments broke up existing communities and reduced parent choice.

Are you worried about the outcome of the schools lottery> If so, tell us below or call Andy Chiles on 01273 544548.