THOUSANDS of Kent parents are still in the dark about next year's secondary school admissions procedures following the revelation that a final decision will not be made until near the end of October at the earliest.

The Office of the Schools' Adjudicator, an independent body, has been examining the arrangements in Kent.

Kent County Council says the news means that parents choosing secondary schools for their children next year will face further delays before they find out how the transfer process will work.

Fears have also been voiced that it will be difficult for the KCC to give the parents the correct information and enough time to reach their decisions before the Secretary of State's deadline of November 21.

Local education authorities are supposed to send parents information booklets six weeks before the deadline for applications.

The schools' adjudicator made an interim ruling last month on the procedures to be adopted but has yet to rule unequivocally following further public consultation.

Peter Read, an independent education advisor and former Kent head teacher, said: "People ought to be rising up in arms. This is the worst shambles in education I have come across in 30 years working in Kent.

"The school adjudicator has been sitting on this for months. He ought to have been able to come up with a decision earlier."

Kent Messenger journalist Angela Zigler, whose 11-year-old daughter is due to move schools next year, said: "It is a complete mess. No one seems to know what is happening. Even when we have visited schools on open days, the head teachers have had to hold their hands up and say `we don't really know what is going on.'

"I am having to make one of the biggest decisions of my daughter's life without all the facts. The deadline for choosing her schools is only a few weeks away and we could have to make our choice before the schools' adjudicator has made his decision."

Mrs Zigler, who lives in Goudhurst and whose daughter attends St Mary's Primary School, Lamberhurst, added: "Everyone you speak to on the subject seems to say something different. All I know is that an awful lot of children are gong to lose out because of this mess."

The KCC says over the next few days parents of children in their last year at primary school will receive a letter advising them of the delay, together with a booklet giving information about all Kent's secondary schools.

The letter warns that some of the admission arrangements in the booklet may change, and advises parents to await the forms before making their decision.

Cllr Leyland Ridings (Con), the KCC cabinet member for school organisation and early years, said: "I fully sympathise with parents and their children who, like us, are awaiting for vital issues to be resolved.

"Starting secondary school is an important milestone in a child's life. This delay extends the uncertainty for parents who are trying to make decisions for next year."

Dr Philip Hunter, the schools' adjudicator, was asked to make a ruling on various aspects of admissions to secondary schools in Kent after Education Secretary Charles Clarke introduced a new co-ordinated scheme for the county earlier this year. It gives parents the chance to express a preference for three schools on one form.

In his interim ruling the adjudicator said he was minded to stop secondary schools giving greater priority to children who do not sit the 11-plus, a practice known as "conditionality."

Dr Hunter also said he was not convinced by arguments against the use of parents' orders of preference in determining places where schools were oversubscribed.