Eleven-year-olds in Bovingdon will continue to suffer “unfair” secondary school transfer rules after an expert refused to uphold a challenge from angry villagers.

In July, 93 parents from Bovingdon made a formal objection to Hertfordshire County Council’s school admissions policy for the coming year.

Parents say it is unfair youngsters in the village are being denied places at their nearest secondary school, Hemel Hempstead School, on the grounds they live too far away.

They say the council’s “postcode system” means many Year 6 pupils in Bovingdon are also not getting places at Kings Langley School and Cavendish as places instead go to those children who live closer.

It means pupils often have to accept places at schools simply because they have spaces - often as a result of their unpopularity - regardless of the location.

Some students in the village are even having to travel up to ten miles every morning.

This year most pupils were given places at Adeyfield School, two bus rides away.

The group of parents, backed by Bovingdon Primary School and the local parish council, have held crisis talks with the county council and made a formal objection in the summer to the rule.

However, despite agreeing that the parents have “reasonable and legitimate concerns”, the adjudicator, Andrew Baxter, refused to uphold the objection.

In his report Mr Baxter, of the Office of the Schools Adjudicator, said: “The county council is right to be exploring ways of improving the situation and this might have to include some local arrangement of the kind proposed by the objectors.

“However, I am clear that the arrangements determined for 2009 are compliant with the Code, workable and reasonable."

Richard Taylor, who lives in the High Street, represented the parents and said they are all “extremely disappointed” by the judgement.

He said: “Obviously the parents are disappointed, they hoped they would get some sort of new local rule in place to help them in 2009.”

The council has said it will look at its policy for 2010 and 2011 but, as Richard said, that is little comfort to the current Year 6 class at Bovingdon Primary School.

He says the fifty-plus pupils from that year group could end up going to as many as ten different schools.

“The parents have no preference and we will always be given the left over schools”, he said.

“That means we can never, ever know which school we will get until there is a change in the rule.

”We have a situation now here in Bovingdon where people whose children are in year 4 or 5 are trying to sell their home and move out of the village.”

However, he added: “I think the judgement encourages the local authority to continue working with us and we will definitely continue the fight going forward.”