00:00There's a hidden valley of villages in Kent where children are consistently missing out
00:05on places at their local secondary schools.
00:09Friends Louise and Tanya were devastated when neither of their children got a place
00:14at any of their nearest schools, instead being sent to the opposite side of Maidstone.
00:19To receive that email and not have been given any of the choices was heartbreaking
00:23and the worst part I think was picking up my daughter from the playground
00:29and everyone's coming out, oh what did I get, what did I get
00:31and I was stood there thinking how am I going to tell her
00:33that she's not got any of these schools where all her friends are going.
00:37When I said it he just looked like what school is that
00:41and I couldn't even tell him because I'd had like 30 minutes or an hour
00:46I didn't have time to look it up and he burst into tears.
00:49Parents of year six students must submit a list of four schools they'd like their children to attend
00:54but both Louise and Tanya were told their chosen schools were oversubscribed.
00:59And because of how far away they live, they couldn't be offered a place.
01:04For families that are in a situation where their nearest school
01:07offers places out to children not as far as these homes, what does one do?
01:13You know, I'm two miles from all of the local schools,
01:15I need one of these local schools for my daughter.
01:18Data showing the school allocation distances on offer holder day from the last five years
01:23shows these villages are consistently missing out on places.
01:28Kent County Council says 96% of pupils were offered one of their chosen schools this year
01:33and in a statement they said that they understand that receiving an unexpected school offer
01:39can be upsetting.
01:41But they added that they don't have the power to centralise admissions policies
01:45and are working with schools to meet demand in the Maidstone area.
01:49While the mothers understand that there's no overnight fix,
01:52they're now campaigning for a guaranteed local school for every child.
01:57Louise and Tanya say they want an independent assessor to come and review the current school
02:02allocation system so that no children living in villages like Bearstead have to miss out.
02:08I just don't want people to suffer like we have.
02:11And every time I spoke to someone down the road, they went,
02:14Oh yeah, I had the same problem. It was a nightmare. I'm just like, why is nothing changing?
02:19Both appealed to all their chosen schools, but didn't win any of them.
02:24Tanya's daughter was eventually offered a place at the Lennam School,
02:27while Louise decided to look into private schools because of the stress and anxiety the situation was causing.
02:33And as we approach the next round of school applications,
02:37the friends say they don't want any other families to be left without a seat in the classroom.
02:42Sophie Denny for KMTV in Bearstead.
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