Hundreds of children will have their secondary school places decided by an electronic lottery, The Argus can reveal.

In the next few months the youngsters and their families will be the first ever to be subjected to the controversial system introduced by Brighton and Hove City Council earlier this year.

The deadline for secondary school applications for children starting next September passed last month and initial figures showing parents' first choice schools have now been collated by the council.

Although the council has refused to release any of the information or figures officially, The Argus understands:

- The six single and joint catchment areas being introduced for September 2008 will 'catch' - every child living in each area will get a place at the school, or one of the two schools, it includes.

- As a result it is highly unlikely any children will have to be directed out of the 'golden catchment' containing Varndean and Dorothy Stringer schools to less popular schools elsewhere.

- The number of parents picking Dorothy Stringer and Blatchington Mill schools has risen once again, meaning both are significantly oversubscribed. Dorothy Stringer is understood to have around 200 more parents' first choices than it has places.

- This means hundreds of places at the two schools, each in joint catchments, will have to be allocated by an electronic lottery. Most children who miss out on Dorothy Stringer will be given places at Varndean instead. Most who do not get into Blatchington Mill will have places at Hove Park school.

- First choice picks for Falmer High School, which has been the least popular school in recent years, have risen.

A council spokesman said that despite the huge public interest in the secondary school admissions process it would not be releasing information or commenting until March 3, when parents will receive letters telling them which schools their children have been allocated.

He said there were several factors beyond the council's control which could still affect the process and outcomes.

Cardinal Newman Catholic school conducts its own admissions procedures, taking pupils from throughout Brighton and Hove, and will not finalise its places until January.

The outcome of admissions applications in East and West Sussex is also likely to have an impact, as would the possibility of families moving in to, out of and around Brighton and Hove.

It is understood the affect of sibling links, giving priority to children with brothers and sisters already at schools, has not yet been applied.

The spokesman could not give a date when the lottery process itself would be carried out or any details of how it would be conducted.

Brighton and Hove City Councillor Vanessa Brown, responsible for education, said as far as she could tell the catchments were going to work.

She said: "It's always difficult until we have the final results but at the moment it is looking likely. We are hopeful that no children will have to be directed out of their catchments."

City councillor Pat Hawkes, who chaired the committee which brought in the system, said: "I think the hard work put in during a long consultation has paid off."

Last year 465 parents specified Dorothy Stringer as their first preference school for their children and 385 picked Blatchington Mill. The schools stated their capacities for the year group as 308 and 300 respectively.

With first choices at both schools increasing this year, there are believed to be more than 900 children contending for around 600 places. Although the sibling link will give some children priority, most will have their allocation decided by the lottery. As a consequence around 300 families will face disappointment.

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