Romesh Ranganathan loses son’s school place appeal

The comedian and TV presenter Romesh Ranganathan has said his appeal to get his youngest son into one of his preferred choices of secondary schools has been turned down.

Mr Ranganathan said he had “accepted the decision” but commented that “the system wasn’t working”.

Speaking in a video on Instagram the TV personality said “lots of people in the same situation” had contacted him and that the situation was “particularly bad for people with special needs and disabilities”.

A spokesperson for West Sussex County Council (WSCC) said: “We understand the disappointment of parents who are not offered a place at a school of their preferences.”

Mr Ranganathan commented that there was “no easy solution to the situation” and said his family would have to “go with an alternative”.

In April the comedian said he had emailed West Sussex County Council six times after his son had been placed in a school “on the other side of town”, and not at the same school as his elder two brothers.

He said at the time he had received no response and his local MP, who agreed to investigate, had been told the council “can’t do anything about it”.

A WSCC statement said: “We do all we can to provide young people with school places and this year we were able to offer 87% of the 9,050 secondary school applicants a place at their first choice of school, while nearly 97% were offered a place at one of their three preferences.

“Applications are considered by our admissions team on their priority according to the relevant oversubscription criteria for their preferred schools, which may include proximity of the school to home and whether other siblings attend the same school.”