CHILDREN from two areas of York look set to miss out on places at their preferred secondary schools at Tadcaster and Easingwold.

Letters to parents of final-year primary school pupils were due to go out this afternoon allocating secondary school places from September.

But several children from Bishopthorpe were set to miss out on the places they wanted at Tadcaster Grammar School, and Easingwold School will be taking no pupils from York.

Traditionally, while Easingwold's catchment does not include the city, children have still been able to attend.

This year, the pupils will instead be offered places at York schools.

Council officers said today the situation was a one-off caused by a higher-than-normal number of 11-year-olds moving up through the system.

Tadcaster's head teacher Geoff Mitchell stressed there were no plans to change Tadcaster's catchment, which still includes Copmanthorpe and Bishopthorpe.

Coun John Galvin, whose York ward covers Bishopthorpe, said he would be taking up the issue with North Yorkshire County Council.

"I am very angry that the grammar school seems to be going back on its word and parents have every right to feel let down. As I recall some two years or so ago the school confirmed its intention to continue admitting children from Bishopthorpe into the foreseeable future."

City of York Council has had to increase capacity at Canon Lee, Fulford, Huntington, Joseph Rowntree, Millthorpe and Oaklands Schools to cater for the 2,113 children leaving primary schools this year.

Nobody from the county council was available for comment today.

Updated: 10:50 Friday, March 01, 2002