Seventeen Isle of Wight families hoping to get into Cowes Enterprise College, when the new academic year starts in September, have lost their appeals.

Many had argued space should be made at the Ormiston Trust run school because it was in walking distance of their homes.

Instead, they have been allocated places at schools in Newport.

In 2018, Cowes Enterprise College revealed a plan to cut its intake from 270 to 210, because there were too many secondary school places on the Island.

Of the 210 places available at the start of the 2021/22 term, the County Press was told that more than 80 have gone to the siblings of children already at the school and (of those) around 20 live outside the Cowes and East Cowes area.

Isle of Wight County Press:

Speaking to the County Press earlier this month, Cowes North councillor Richard Quigley, who has been pushing for a resolution to the matter, along with Cowes West and Gurnard member Paul Fuller (who has just been made cabinet member for housing and planning)  said more than 250 children consider the Ormiston Trust-run academy their closest school.

Cowes Enterprise College had been talking to council education bosses about offering more places than the set number, but a disagreement about funding means extra desks have not been made available to those families who have been going through the appeals process over the last fortnight.

Ryde Academy and The Bay CE have increased places for September 2021, while Medina College and Christ the King both recently cut back.

In March, we learned ten per cent of Isle of Wight families did not get their preferred secondary school.

As of last Friday, 44 secondary school appeals were scheduled, the Isle of Wight Council said.

In a statement issued at the start of the appeals process, a spokesperson for Cowes Enterprise College said: "Unfortunately, to take in all the additional students would stretch the academy beyond our current available staffing and classroom capacity and devalue the experience for those students already at the school."

We have approached the new cabinet member for education, Cllr Debbie Andre, for a comment.

On Wednesday, she told the County Press: "I will be looking at [school places] as an overview for the whole Island.

"It wouldn't be right to look at [Cowes Enterprise College] in isolation.

"I will be doing everything I can to give parents and students the choice they deserve."