A SOFTWARE error was to blame for letters being sent out early to some parents, sparking concern over secondary school places.

The Leader was told by a concerned parent on Monday that secondary school admission letters had been sent out in error to some parents ahead of the planned national offer day - March 1.

According an email the parent had received, only those whose children had been accepted into their secondary school of choice had been written to.

Those whose children had not been successful had received no letter.

Flintshire Council confirmed that the information in the early letters is correct and that the authority took steps to ensure all applicants were informed of their outcomes on Tuesday.

The email to parents, seen by the Leader, explained: "We received an email from the admissions team at county to inform us there has been a glitch in their computer system and the prepared emails informing parents of secondary school places for September 2019 have gone out today instead of March 1 as planned.

"The emails to parents to inform them of places which have been refused have not been sent out today.

"County will now try to get these emails sent out as soon as possible.

"Due to the emails of places being sent out earlier than expected, primary school have not yet received a list of which schools have been allocated to pupils.

"County apologise for any confusion or panic which may have been generated from today's emails but will be working hard to inform parents of the non-successful school allocation as soon as possible."

A spokesman for the council said: "The council is due to inform parents of the allocation of schools admissions in readiness for the 2019/20 academic year.

"A problem with the admissions software system has led to secondary school offers of places being sent out via email to some parents ahead of others, and ahead of the 1 March planned date.

"The information contained within the letter to these parents is correct.

"The council has acted to ensure that all applicants for a secondary school place will be sent an email with the outcome of their application by the end of today.

"The council apologises for any inconvenience or concern caused by some applicants being informed of the outcome before others.

"This issue does not affect the remainder of the published admissions timetable."