A large number of parents are currently undergoing stressful appeals procedures in an attempt to obtain places in schools of their choice. This has mainly been caused by the decision to close Whitehawk's Media Arts College.

Above and beyond the criteria set by the admissions rules and regulations is the fact that, when the council became involved in the decision to close the Median Arts College, it knew in advance this would cause all other secondary schools in Brighton and Hove major problems in how to balance the extra demands the closure would make upon the normal intake - both in dealing with parents' first choice and in the extra costs involved.

Anyone with any business acumen would have known there would be a need for extra funds and possibly extra classrooms and the cost-savings in closing Comart must have been large. How much of the saved money was reallocated to the other schools in preparation for dealing with what has become a shameful fiasco?

-R Ford, Brighton