It is always going to be the case that some children do not get into the secondary schools their parents want them to attend.

But the revelation that a quarter of 11-year-olds - almost 400 children - have missed out on not only their preferred choice but any of their top five options is somewhat staggering.

It is an issue that the parents of those children probably find especially difficult because it generally was not a problem when they were at school themselves.

But since then we have bought into a culture of "parental choice" when it comes to sending our children to schools, and it is only natural that those schools considered the "best" will be oversubscribed.

It always used to be the case that children generally went to their closest school. This tended to encourage a diverse social and academic mix, as many of us will recall from our own school days.

But the advent of choice means that schools which were designed to have a pupil intake from the immediate geographical area now simply do not have the capacity for all those who wish to attend, especially if they are rated above average.

The system also perpetuates a situation where the "better" schools attract the better teachers, rather than a good spread of sound candidates across the whole school system.

With a growing population, and thousands of new homes required for the district, the problem is only going to get worse, not better.

Perhaps a return to a "local school" culture, with resources spread evenly across those schools, is the only way - short of a massive programme of new school building - to address the issue.