MOST parents in Kent believe secondary schools should be able to give greater priority to those who make it their number one choice when applying for places, a major survey has found.

The survey, organised by 17 of the county’s secondary schools, revealed overwhelming support among parents for what is known as "first preference first" admissions arrangements.

Around one in four Kent secondary schools use the policy, including High Christie Technology College, the Mascalls School and the Bennett Memorial School in west Kent.

But the policy is now under threat after the Schools Adjudicator - the independent quango that rules on admissions disputes - told one secondary school, Canterbury High, to discontinue it.

The adjudicator’s ruling followed a challenge by Kent County Council, which wants schools to adopt different admissions arrangements.

However, in the first major test of parental opinion on the issue, more than 80 per cent of close to 5,000 of the parents who responded backed "first preference first" as the fairest way of allocating places.

The findings will be used as ammunition by those schools keen to retain the policy in the face of pressure from KCC to scrap it.

The education authority has signalled it is determined to see all secondary schools move to an equal preference scheme, in which parents do not rank schools in priority and KCC acts as a clearing house.

Survey organiser Martin Frey, vice chairman of governors at Tenterden’s Homewood School, which is among the schools that operate the policy, said: "Parents told us first preference first is the fairest way to decide which children get places at popular schools.

"The alternative reduces choice and may mean first preference applicants lose their chance of a place to those with lower preferences who live closer."

Parents had sent a "clear message" to the education authority that it should stop its efforts to ban first preference first.

The survey asked parents to choose the fairest system between the two alternatives.

Danny O’Donovan, headteacher of Herne Bay High School, said: "I have always believed that if you want to give parents choice, you have to say to them 'which school do you most want your child to go to?'

"First preference means they are making a positive decision. My problem with equal preference is that it is confusing and takes away the issue from the school and hands it to someone else."

He added that equal preference was skewed towards Kent’s grammar schools by effectively allowing them a safety net that allowed parents to choose a non-selective school first when they actually wanted a place at a grammar.

"Whatever you do in Kent, there seems to be a rule for people who want selection to have to be dealt with in a privileged way and whatever they do, non-selective schools have to toe the line," he said.

In a statement KCC said it had concerns about the validity of the survey.

Dr Ian Craig, KCC assistant director of education, said: "We have some concerns about the validity of the survey particularly the choice of those surveyed and the way in which first preference first and equal preference were explained.

"We need to examine the survey report in more depth before making more detailed comments."