Hundreds of parents are waiting to find out how they have fared in the lottery for places at Brighton and Hove's most popular state secondary schools.

Dozens have already started to form appeal cases if the decision doesn't fall in their favour.

The national spotlight will focus on the city tomorrow morning when families receive letters informing them where their children have been allocated places.

Every Year 6 pupil in the country will find out today or tomorrow which secondary school they have been admitted to and interest has developed around the new system in the city, the first to use a lottery as a tie-breaker for places at oversubscribed schools.

Since they filled in their application forms in October, parents of ten and 11-year-olds in Brighton and Hove have been anxiously awaiting outcomes for the first group of children to be put through the process.

Confirmation letters will be sent by schools today via first class post.

The catchment and lottery system was both opposed and supported by hundreds of families when it was controversially brought in by Brighton and Hove City Council last year. Opponents said they did not want to put their children in an awkward position by speaking negatively about schools they may end up attending.

Brighton and Hove City councillor Keith Allen, who represents Preston Park ward where the strongest opposition has centred, said: "It is all quiet at the moment. It feels like the calm before the storm. It seems inevitable there will be a good number of unhappy people."

Campaign group Schools 4 Communities, which has co-ordinated opposition to the scheme, said it would not speak until letters had been received. The council said it was anticipating a large number of appeals.

A lottery, operated by computer programme, has been used to allocate more than 1,000 children between two pairs of schools which share dual catchment areas.

In Brighton it has sorted pupils between Dorothy Stringer School in Loder Road and neighbouring Varndean School in Balfour Road.

About 500 parents specified Dorothy Stringer as their first choice but only 300 places are available.

An extension is being built at Varndean to ensure enough places at the two schools for all pupils in the catchment area.

Parents inside the catchment who fought for changes to the admissions system said they were not concerned by the lottery. It is likely their children would have been sent to schools further away and lower in the league tables under the old walking-distance measure.

Sophie Ricca-McCarthy, of Freshfield Road, Brighton, is waiting to find out where her son Oscar, ten, will be allocated. She said: "We are in the lucky position of knowing he'll go to one or the other of our nearest schools, whereas before he could have gone to any of eight."

In the joint catchment area in Hove, a lot more parents have put Blatchington Mill as first choice rather than Hove Park so the lottery will be used to allocate places.

Single catchment areas will be used to allocate places at Portslade Community College, Patcham High, Longhill High and Falmer High.

The council said the catchments have worked, with each school having enough places for children in its area. It has refused to disclose whether any children have had to be sent to schools outside their catchment area.

  • A full breakdown of lottery statistics will be available on this website from midday on Tuesday. When you receive your letter, do contact us to let us know your thoughts. Call 01273 544548 or email andy.chiles@theargus.co.uk