Romesh Ranganathan has criticised his local council after they offered his son a place in a secondary school on the ‘other side of town’.
The comedian, 47, says he begged West Sussex County Council to look into his youngest child’s case after not being offered any of his preferred choices, including the same school as his two elder brothers.
A clearly frustrated Mr Ranganathan said he had to ask his local MP to intervene when he received no response, but was later told by the council ‘they can’t do anything’.
The Weakest Link host told the BBC he would be forced to put his son in a taxi when he starts in September to get him to the classroom on time due to the distance between his children’s schools.
In a post to his Instagram account, Mr Ranganathan described it as a ‘shambles’ and accused the local authority of ‘no longer giving a s**t’ in giving priority to children who have siblings at a school.
‘So the school that we put down that is the same as his brothers, they’ve [the council] said you are not having that,’ he said.
‘Not only you’re not having that, you’re not having any of the schools you put down as a preference. In fact, we placed you at a school the other side of town. That’s it. So I’m like, well no. I don’t want that.’
He said he had sent a ‘beggy’ email but only received a response two weeks after his MP got involved.
Mr Ranganathan said: ‘I wait two weeks and West Sussex says they’ve looked in to it they cant do anything. They have conducted an investigation of their placement procedure and they found it to be satisfactory. I bet they have. a
‘And then he said to me ‘i’m sure it’s disappointing’. It’s more than disappointing. It’s not the football. It’s my son’s school placement.’
Famiies are able to appeal if their child is not offered one of their preferred choices.
Mr Ranganathan said they are now on the waiting list and will have their ‘fingers crossed’.
‘It’s school. School’s important, isn’t it?,’ he said.
‘Isn’t your kids’ education… aren’t you allowed to be worried about it? Anyway, f***ing annoying.’
A spokesperson for West Sussex County Council said: ‘We don’t comment on individual matters, but we acknowledge the disappointment when students cannot be placed at their first choice. We will always work with families to ensure a suitable school placement can be found.
‘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.’
What are the chances of securing a first choice in your area? Use our interactive map below.
More than a third of pupils missed out on their first choice secondary school, according to data.
Figures released by National Offer Day showed up to 36 per cent missed out in parts of London, while elsewhere in the country it was up to 26 per cent.
Experts said in March competition was still fierce for places at the best schools, leading to a high number of rejections.
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: ‘Some families will be disappointed.
‘The demand for secondary school places has been rising for a number of years and is expected to increase again this year.
‘Highly sought-after schools – often in more affluent areas with strong Ofsted ratings – face intense demand, while others struggle with lower pupil numbers, creating financial challenges.’
