Kirklees Council is to amend its school admissions policy in the light of Government guidelines.

Councillor John Smithson, Kirklees Council's Cabinet member for education, has pledged that places in local schools would remain a top priority wherever possible, and he did not anticipate major problems.

"Parental choice is important," he said. "Our previous policy in relation to parental choice guaranteed parents a place for their child at the school within the catchment area where they live, even if this means the schools go above their planned admission limit."

He said a judgement involving another local authority led Kirklees to reconsider the practice of automatically guaranteeing places above the admission limit to any category of admission.

"Every effort will continue to be made to meet parental preference for where their children go to school, and I am convinced we will be able to meet it in all but a small number of cases," he said.