Will there be repeat of Bristol school places shortage?

Action is under way to make sure there is no repeat of Bristol's primary school places fiasco – but there will still be some areas where demand exceeds supply.

Bristol City Council says it has already created 166 extra places for September 2010 and has begun talks with other schools that might need to take more pupils.

The authority has set aside £850,000 to pay for additional classrooms to accommodate the growing number of four-year- olds in the city.

More than 4,500 applications for reception class places have already been submitted to the council – a number that exceeds the total for last year, including late applicants.

These are being analysed so that as many parents as possible can be allocated one of their preferred schools.

Last year, 300 families who could not be granted one of their three choices were not given a school at all in the first round of allocations.

This time, all on-time applicants have been assured of a primary school place offer at the end of January. Secondary applicants will get their offers at the beginning of March.

Cabinet member for children Clare Campion-Smith said: "Parents should be reassured that work is already under way to increase reception places.

"We are developing primary school buildings in many parts of the city to improve education for our children. Our action plan to improve the admissions process prioritises where further changes can be made.

"Last year, 93 per cent of families were offered one of their three choices for primary school. This year, we have seen an eight per cent increase in on-time applications, which we think shows that work to remind parents to apply for school places on time is paying off. This in turn will help us manage the admissions process better.

"Furthermore, although there has been some delay in the timetable, once planning permission is granted, contractors will be able to start work to complete a new school for the Bishopston area."

The action plan follows a report by independent consultants into what went wrong in 2009, when the council had to spend £1.3 million putting in extra places at a dozen schools.

Two major areas of work involve improving communications with parents and with schools.

The consultants' report noted that council officials had not been talking to schools enough to share numbers on roll and check the suitability of their admission numbers and accommodation.

They also noted that relationships with schools were poor following the council's primary schools review but that these were improving since the arrival of the new director of children's services Annie Hudson.

The report was strongly critical of the council's information booklets for parents seeking school places, describing them as "more of a hindrance than a help".