School admissions procedures are being overhauled this year to make the system fairer for families across Oxfordshire.

Parents will continue to register their first three preferences of state school, but will only be offered a place at one primary or secondary school.

This will avoid situations in which one pupil receives several offers while other families have to negotiate waiting lists and appeal panels if none of their favoured choices are secured.

The county council, not individual schools, will be responsible for applications and will be liaising with neighbouring authorities for the first time.

A sophisticated IT database system has been set up to process applications, which will relieve the administrative burden on schools and make the system more efficient.

More than 97 per cent of pupils were offered their first choice of secondary school this year, giving the county one of the best records nationally.

The local education authority anticipates the number of satisfied families will increase under the new system, with a drop in the number of complaints made.

Tony Crabbe, Oxfordshire's executive member for schools, said: "We do extremely well already and we have a high satisfaction rate from parents, but we hope that the new scheme will improve the system even more.

"This will have a particular effect on the county boundary areas where we shall be coordinating with authorities across the boundaries.

"We have quite a number of areas where parents are being offered places in each county and this coordination will create a fairer system."

All applications for primary places must be in by October 19 and parents will be informed of the LEA's decision by January 20 -- giving parents the chance to appeal or prepare their child for another school.

Jill McCleery, chairman of governors at St Ebbe's Primary School in Whitehouse Road, south Oxford, and a member of the executive for Oxfordshire Governors' Association, said: "The council taking charge in this way could take the pressure off school staff and governors, including those working for church-aided schools like ours.

"We spent at least 20 hours on processing admissions this year and lost seven appeals, so we are quite over-subscribed."

To secure a place at a secondary school, parents must return the application by November 1. All parents will receive an offer of a place by March 1.

If they have not been offered their chosen school, they may register the child on the continued interest list and are still in with a chance of getting a place up until the end of September.