4:20pm Friday 12th March 2010
By Emily Walker, Chief Reporter
Almost one in five 11-year-olds lost out on their top choice of secondary school under Brighton and Hove's controversial lottery system.
Official figures released by the Department for Children Schools and Families showed that less pupils in Brighton and Hove got their top choice of school, than in East or West Sussex.
The figures have once again called into question the fairness of the city's lottery system for allocating school places.
In Brighton and Hove 80.9% of year 7 pupils got into their favourite secondary school.
More than 89% of pupils in East Sussex got a place at their number one school and in West Sussex students fared even better, with almost 94% getting their first preference.
The figures showed that in both East Sussex and Brighton and Hove, roughly 96%, and in West Sussex more than 98% of pupils got one of their top three choices.
A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: “The catchment area system we use has been endorsed by the Schools Adjudicator and has delivered a level of first preferences that’s very close to the national average.
“We believe it is much fairer than the previous system we had here and is the right solution for our city.”
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