PARENTS of children moving up to secondary school in Gloucestershire in September are due to receive a letter tomorrow telling them where their children will be going.

The allocation letter from Gloucestershire County Council offers all parents in the county one school place for their child. Each letter will be specific to each child and will explain the reason behind each decision.

Parents have until March 20 to return their reply form.

Samantha Budd, senior access manager, said; "This is always a stressful time for pupils and parents but our Access to Education Team have worked very hard to try to ensure that as many pupils as possible get one of their preferences.

"This year, at this stage, 94.6 per cent have received one of their preferred places, and 83.8 per cent have been offered their first preference. This has been a huge exercise with places for 7,212 pupils having been allocated out of the 8,868 available. This includes 403 who are coming into Gloucestershire from other authorities.

"We anticipate that most parents will be happy with the place offered to them. For those who aren't happy, I would urge them not to panic and to keep their allocated place as this will ensure that, whatever the outcome, their child will have a place at a school."

Parents can ask for their child's allocation to be reconsidered and children can be placed on a waiting list for their preferred school, though available places will be allocated in accordance with the published admissions criteria for each school.

If, following reconsideration, parents are still not happy with the allocated school they can appeal.

Further information is available website www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/schooladmissions