To preserve an all-ability intake, they allocate places by ability bands, taking as many low- achievers as high-fliers. Were such a system used widely, more choice might be available to parents of all backgrounds. And with better links between groups of schools, the facilities of each could be available to all local pupils, improving their choice of exam subjects.But there are no easy answers. They hope to do this by expanding the number and choice of specialist schools.

And third, when infant class sizes were cut, extra classes were built in popular primary schools that enjoyed a net increase of 12,000 places.In each case, a planned approach led to greater choice. Mr Bell urged local school-organisation committees to think carefully about how they planned school places. But while he was right to highlight the importance of helping struggling schools recover speedily, this should not mean that popular schools are prevented from expanding, or that failing schools with no hope of recovery are not closed more quickly.Now, the Government's biggest challenge is to ensure that urban parents can access good secondary schools. Parents can choose between sectors, and half of the 510,400 three-year-olds with free part-time places today are in voluntary playgroups, private nurseries or independent schools. The policy normally involved funding successful independent schools that had been vetted by Ofsted, rather than building from scratch.Second, it replaced nursery vouchers with local planning partnerships to deliver a big expansion in free nursery education. But the plan assumes that a thriving market will meet new demand, and it makes no allowance for the costs of building new schools.The Government says it wants popular schools to expand, and promises parents greater choice through more specialist schools In fact, it has improved choice in three ways since 1997.

First, through giving taxpayers' money to new faith schools, including the Seventh Day Adventist John Loughborough School in Haringey, and the Muslim Islamia School in Brent. And the Chief Inspector of Schools, David Bell, has warned that encouraging popular schools to expand could harm struggling schools. Both illustrate the dilemmas of school choice. And parents are increasingly dissatisfied with the choice available They generated 95,000 admissions appeals in 2001. Secondary-school appeals have grown by 50 per cent since 1997, with only a quarter resolved in the parents' favour. And while 12 per cent of secondary admissions are appealed nationally, this rises to 28 per cent in Mr Letwin's local London borough of Lambeth.