A family feel ‘disappointed’ and in a ‘terrible situation’ after their four year-old son failed to gain a primary school place at any of their preferred schools.

Teacher Ian Goldthorpe and his partner Elaine Dennison feel ‘disillisioned’ by the school place allocation system that meant only son Thomas was refused a place at all three of their top choices, which included St Anslem’s Catholic Primary School in Roxborough Park, Harrow.

They rejected the council’s take-it-or-leave-it offer of a place at another primary school - whose name they have asked us to withhold - that they feel has poor results and low standards and lies over two miles away from their home in Flambard Road, Kenton.

It means Thomas is without a school with five months to go before the start of the new academic year.

Mr Goldthorpe, 53, said: “We have not had the opportunity to put our son in a school that we feel is right for him.

“He is very articulate and unfortunately for us our preferences and parental rights were completely ignored and our son has been allocated the 21st school in terms of distance from home and one with poor results and low standards.

“We are devastated and angry and disillusioned with the process.”

For the forthcoming year three out of four children received their first preference of primary school and nine out of 10 children received one of their first three choices although parents may submit up to six preferences.

Harrow Council said 173 children in Harrow were not allocated any of their preferred primary schools this year, which represents roughly five per cent of the total allocations.

All of those children were offered a place the nearest primary school to their home that still had a vacancy.

Ms Dennison, 49, said: “We know the criteria for the selection are so stacked against us, with no older siblings, that we have stood no chance of securing a place in any good schools in Harrow close to home.

“We are mature parents with an only child between us and it seems that families with lots of siblings take priority over the places at schools.”

In Harrow’s community schools the main criteria for the allocation process are sibling connections - youngsters with an older brother or sisters already at the school - and thereafter each school’s proximity to the child’s home. Occasionally there may be other special considerations, such as specific medical needs.

The doting parents, who moved to Harrow in 2010 knowing there were Ofsted-rated good schools in the borough, believe that their son has no hope of getting a secure place in a primary school they consider good enough to meet their expectations due to the sibling priority rule.

Mr Goldthorpe said: “We have ended up in a terrible situation and are obviously disappointed.

“We understand that there is an expansion plan of primary places for 2015 but that is too late for children this year.”

The couple are appealing to Harrow Council in the hope of Thomas’ instament in a school they are happy with.

The council’s interim divisional director for education and commissioning, Alison Murphy, said: “We have a strong track record in which every child gets a fair start in life at a local school, and our school expansion programme is adding hundreds of new school places every year to make sure this continues.

“It is always disappointing when children don’t receive their first preference of schools.

“However, with some schools oversubscribed by a factor of six or more, the children who live closest have priority.

“Occasionally, this means families do not get any of their preferences, and in those cases we allocate pupils to the nearest school that does have a vacancy.”

What do you think? E-mail caitlin.black@trinitymirror.com