Secondary school admissions have an infinite capacity to cause parental stress and emotional turmoil and this year has been no exception in Kent.

While the number of children getting a place at one of the schools they opted for has increased, there continues to be a messy aftermath in some places, notably Maidstone.

It's interesting to follow the blame trail here. Parents understandably have focused their anger on Kent County Council, which administers admissions. KCC in turn has directed its attention on Cornwallis School, which changed its admissions arrangements in a way the education authority says is why so many families have been disappointed. Cornwallis School has politely pointed out its admissions changed because KCC forced it to. KCC says it was forced to act because the Government's own rules obliged it to. I haven't yet established what the Government's view is but I expect it won't be taking the blame. Either way, the saga highlights just how complicated admissions are. It also illustrates the problem of parents believing they have a choice when in fact, the law only allows them a preference. You can choose which supermarket to shop in and which breakfast cereal to buy but you can't actually choose a school you'd like your child to go.

Parents have, I believe, been duped by politicians of all persuasions on this. The Government's own policies have all been based around the flawed view that if you have increased diversity in the education system, parental choice will grow. So we now have specialist schools, academies, faith schools, foundation schools and coming up, trust schools. Has this diversity improved choice for parents? I doubt whether many parents would agree that just because there are a lot of different types of school, their options have improved.

The truth is that all most parents actually want is a good, local neighbourhood school. With so much diversity - not even taking into account Kent's selective system - we've ended up with a situation where invariably, it is schools who have the greatest choice. Not parents.