A mother has slammed Kent’s secondary school selection process after her daughter has had to settle for her fourth choice.

Hana Powell, of Canada Road, Walmer, put Sir Roger Manwood’s (SRM) school down as a first choice and the Dover Grammar School for Girls (DGSG) as third.

Miss Powell’s 11-year-old daughter – who the Mercury has been asked not to name – passed the Kent Test and an extra entrance exam to the grammar but was refused a place at both schools.

The last option, Castle Community College was granted to Miss Powell’s daughter. It is the only school that doesn't require an entry exam.

Miss Powell said: “All they say in the letter is other applicants had a higher priority than her under the published admission criteria even though she was assessed suitable for admission to a grammar school.

“She was the only child in her the group who passed the Kent test to not get a place at a grammar school." Hana Powell.

“I am a single parent and she passed both the grammar tests better than some who got a place.”

The admission criteria is a set of guidelines that each school adopts differently. Some children may get priority if a sibling already attends, or if they live close. Others may be shortlisted because they excelled in entrance exams.

Miss Powell intends to submit an appeal to Manwood’s and says that she and her daughter have been in tears over the ordeal.

Head of admissions at KCC, Scott Bagshaw, said: "The county council has worked hard to make sure there is sufficient capacity in each area and this equates to more than seven forms of entry in the Dover, Deal and Sandwich district.

"Of course schools have their own over-subscription criteria and this will determine which children have priority.

"Kent has seen its most successful year yet with more than 13,000 children receiving their first preference school on March 1 and for those who haven't been quite so fortunate, its early day and a lot will change during the next few weeks."

Read the full report in this week's Dover Mercury, out now.