THURROCK Council finally looks set to address the lack of secondary school places in Tilbury and Chadwell St Mary.

Officers at the Labour-run authority have recommended the council’s Admissions Forum sets up a working group to look at the distribution of pupils and places in the secondary sector.

The report focuses on the problems at the borough’s two academies, Gateway in Tilbury, and Ormiston Park in Aveley, and tells how some pupils in Tilbury are having to go to schools in Stanford-le-Hope and Aveley.

It states: “The admission policies for the two academies in Thurrock do not operate a catchment area as the main determining factor in their admission arrangements.

“The popularity of Gateway Academy means children, living in the area originally served by the catchment area of the former Torrells and St Chad’s schools, are not gaining a place at the school.

“With the exception of Purfleet, West Thurrock and Aveley, which is Ormiston Park Academy, all other areas in Thurrock are covered by a school that the parent’s address would be catered for within the admission number of the school.

“This is not, however, the case for the Gateway Academy, with the admission number not being able to meet the numbers from the feeder primary schools.”

In July the Gazette revealed the two towns had 331 children starting secondary school in September, but Gateway Academy was able to take just 166.

Then, in September, Thurrock Council said that when it closed Torrells and St Chad’s secondary schools, which served the towns, it believed the academy would be taking in 240 pupils a year, instead of the 180 it takes now.

The options the working group would be examining would be admitting more pupils into Year 7 at the Gateway Academy or expanding the school.

The report also talks about changing admission policy at schools such as William Edwards and Grays Media Arts College, to cater for wider catchment areas and help ease the situation.