HANNAH More school in St Philip's is one of several Bristol primaries that have taken steps to help parents with the complicated process of applying for secondary places.

This year for the first time Bristol has had a choice adviser, Denise Tovey, who has been funded by the Government to give families independent advice.

She visited the school, and many others, to explain how the system worked.

Hannah More followed up the visit with a workshop session and then offered parents the chance to use the school's computer suite to complete their applications online.

Ruth Cochrane, the school's community development co-ordinator, explained that for many families English was not their first language so they needed support.

"It can be difficult to get the message out to them. We hope we have done a lot better this year than last in helping parents get their applications in on time," she said.

"We have also tried to ensure that they express three realistic preferences for schools," she added.

"It can be hard to understand that if you apply for three oversubscribed schools, such as Redland Green, Cotham and Colston's Girls, you might not get any of them."

Gushay Hussein, 42, and his wife Halima, from St Jude's, who have been in England for eight years, successfully applied for a place for their eldest son Ayub at Cotham School last year and are hoping his brother Jibril, 11, will get in there this time.

"I think once you have one child at the school you have a better chance," said Mr Hussein. "We are very happy with Cotham School."

Hungarian Zoltanne Okros, 34, and her husband Zoltan, 37, also from St Jude's, have applied for their only daughter Eva, 10, to go to City Academy.

They have also expressed preferences for Cotham and Redland Green.

"My daughter went to visit the City Academy and that is where she would like to go," said Mrs Okros.

Ubax Abshir, 38, who runs a shop in Lawrence Hill with her husband Abdulli Said, has a son, Ahamed, 12, at Cotham.

But the family have decided that daughter Maria, 10, should go to the independent Andalusia Academy in St Paul's next year, at a cost of £2,800 a year.

Mrs Abshir is also sending her two youngest children, Sulecko, seven, and Bilal, four, to the private school.