A MOTHER has criticised the system for allocating primary school places after her son was rejected for the two schools nearest his Colchester home.

Rachel Reeve’s four-year-old son, George, has not been accepted to either of the schools she had applied for.

Instead, he was offered a place at Kings Ford Infant School, in Gloucester Avenue, more than half-a-mile further away by car than Prettygate Junior and Hamilton Junior schools.

Mrs Reeve, 35, of Lexden Road, Colchester, made the applications for both schools before their deadlines, and said she believed George would be offered a place at one of them.

She said: “I thought it was a bit of an April Fool. It’s crazy, they haven’t thought this through.”

Mrs Reeve has appealed against the decision, but said she must first reject the place George has been offered at Kings Ford before finding out if he has been accepted into another school.

She added: “It’s a crazy system. We have to refuse the school by April 14, but we won’t find out the result of the appeal until April 21.”

George attends Christ Church pre-school, in Ireton Road. Traditionally, pupils there transfer to the nearby Hamilton School, in Constantine Road.

Mrs Reeve said: “At Christ Church, they take the children to Hamilton School to look around. We are within the catchment area, but Kings Ford is a ten to 15-minute drive away.”

She said George would be upset when she told him the news, and added some of her friends were in the same position.

Michael Page, a spokesman for Essex County Council, said: “The council makes every effort to allocate parents with places at one of the primary schools they state as preferences in their applications.

“Schools set their own oversubscription criteria, as set out in the Schools’ Admission Policies Directory, which is provided to parents when making their applications.

“The county council strongly recommends parents include their priority admission area school as one of their preferences, as many schools include living in the priority admission area as one of their over-subscription criteria.

“Not doing so means parents could be offered a place several miles away from their home address if a place at one of their preferred schools is not available.

Parents who are not offered a place at one of their preferred schools have the right to make an appeal, which must be made within 21 days of the offer letter being received.

“Details on making an appeal are sent to parents in their offer packs, but it does not require them to reject the school place they have been offered first.”