Pupils hoping to get into two of the county's most popular schools will miss out on places when boundaries are reviewed.

Brighton and Hove City Council has committed itself to providing enough places at Varndean and Dorothy Stringer schools for every 11-year-old in their catchment area in September 2008.

But the authority confirmed it would be reviewing the boundaries for the September 2009 intake and admitted there would not be guaranteed places for all children in the current catchment.

The situation for the two schools was one of the most contentious issues in the controversy over the council's new school admissions system.

The scheme agreed by councillors in February introduced a series of catchments and an electronic ballot as means to decide which children got places at oversubscribed schools in the city.

The council made a commitment at the last minute to build an extension at Varndean School, in Balfour Road, after campaigners complained there were not enough places there and at Dorothy Stringer, in Loder Road, to accomodate every child in the proposed catchment.

At the time, Varndean's headteacher Andy Schofield raised doubts whether the council would be able to deliver the project on time, by September 2008, because of the amount of the work needed and expected complications with finance firm SMIF, which controls the school site as part of a private finance initiative (PFI) contract.

It was predicted an extra 60 places, equivalent to two classes, would be needed in each school year and Mr Schofield said a 300 pupil extension would be too much of an undertaking for the council.

Parents have questioned whether expanding Varndean is a good idea when other city secondaries are undersubscribed.

Gil Sweetenham, the council's assistant director of education, said yesterday the Varndean extension would not be for 300 pupils.

He said: "We are committed to providing an extra 60 places for 2008 which we are confident will be ready on time. The size of the intake in the following years has not yet been agreed.

"There is a possibility for another 60 to join in 2009 but then it will probably go down to 30 in the years after."

He said nothing had been confirmed but expected the new building, and some alterations to the existing facilities, to create an extra 150 spaces overall.

The new block would sit between two others at the front of the school on the hill overlooking the area known as the Surrenden Campus.

Both Mr Schofield and Mr Sweetenham said they had been impressed with initial sketches drawn up by architects ROK. The building would be predominantly glass sided and similar in design to the Downs View Link College which neighbours the school.

Mr Sweetenham said: "It is too early to accurately predict any changes to the catchments because there are a lot of factors to consider. For example, a lot of Varndean pupils may be involved with the new 14 to 19 programmes the Government is bringing in, which means they would spend a sizeable part of their time away from the main school. That would create spare capacity."

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