Parents are claiming a victory in their battle over the 11-plus examination for entry to Skipton's two grammar schools.

North Yorkshire County Council has been rapped by the Ombudsman for the way it administered the tests, which parents claimed were unfair. And it has now agreed to look again at its selection procedure.

Skipton is one of the very few areas left nationwide where pupils sit an examination at the age of 11 for places at the two grammar schools - Ermysted's for boys and Skipton Girls' High.

The two schools achieve some of the best examination results at GCSE and A-level in the country and there is high demand for places.

In the summer, education bosses offered another round of appeals to about 50 parents whose children had failed the test. It followed the first round of appeals earlier in the year, where parents had been refused places for their youngsters.

Ian Lockwood, of Skipton, one of the parents spearheading the campaign, said: "We were not satisfied with the way the county administered the appeals and complained to the Ombudsman.''

The council offered fresh appeals in the summer and of the ten children involved from Skipton, three were offered grammar school places.

In her report, the Ombudsman accuses the council of maladministration and criticises the appeals procedure as "consistent, but consistently unfair".

She has demanded that appeal panel members must be re-trained and that education officers, who represent the council at appeal hearings, should not provide pre-appeal advice.

Councillor John Dennis, executive member for education, said the council accepted all the findings.

"And at the Craven area committee there was a recommendation that NYCC's cabinet should look at the selection procedure," he said.