It is that time of year again when parents and children start choosing primary and secondary schools for next year.

In Brighton and Hove there will be trouble before everyone is placed because some schools are more popular than others.

While far more children want to get into Queen's Park School than can be accepted, East Brighton College of Media Arts (Comart) is less than half full.

In the old days, you went to the school round the corner and that was that. Choice makes schools compete with each other, often bringing about improvements.

But it is hard for schools such as Comart to make themselves attractive when they serve largely deprived areas and have poor reputations even when they are improving.

Brighton and Hove City Council is so worried about school admission problems it has set up a special panel to look at possible improvements.

In some cases, such as at Falmer High, an inspirational head can pull round a declining school and make it attractive.

Comart is also improving under Dr Jill Clough but Derek Bown, who chairs the governors, is probably right to suggest the long-term aim must be for it to offer media and arts courses that appeal to the whole city and not just East Brighton.

In the case of popular primary schools like Queen's Park, there simply is not room for much, if any, expansion and there is nothing the council can do to prevent scores of parents from being disappointed.