A mother has called for a change in school placement after her four-year-old daughter missed out on a primary school place.
Jess, from Queniborough, Leicestershire, said she applied well in advance to the three nearest schools but did not secure a place at any of them.
She said not enough had been done to ensure adequate places were available.
Leicestershire County Council said it was inevitable that some children would not be given their place of choice.
On Tuesday, councils across England updated parents on where their children would be going to school.
In Leicestershire, 97.9% of children were offered a place in one of their top three schools, but Pippa was not one of them.
Jess, 28, said: “Everyone around me got their place – whether it was their first choice or second choice, they still had a place.
“To find out that my daughter didn’t have any seats and there’s nothing you can do about it was really quite scary.”
She said she uncovered numerous flaws in the allocation system.
“They forget that there are new houses in the area, so more classrooms are needed,” she said.
“They don’t prioritize the catchment area, they prioritize siblings from outside the catchment area.”
Pippa’s first school of choice was a three-minute walk from her home.
Jess said: “It’s heartbreaking. We have four generations living in the village, I went to school myself, I live at the same address on the same street, so it didn’t occur to me for a second that she wouldn’t come to this school.”
Pippa will now be placed on a list along with children whose parents missed the application deadline.
Jess said she found the system unacceptable.
“They need to update their process to make sure there is a safety net for the kids not interfering with their decisions,” she said.
“There should be a separate policy for this scenario because it’s going to happen more often,” she said.
She has contacted her MP Edward Argar and asked him to look into admissions policies for academies in the county.
Deborah Taylor, County Council Deputy Chair and Cabinet Member for Children and Families, said: “We are aware of the situation here, but it would be inappropriate to comment on individual cases.
“Some children will inevitably not get the place of their choice and we stand ready to offer parents help and support if this is the case.”
This story is based on Jess’ interview on BBC Radio Leicester. The full interview is available on BBC Sounds.
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