SIR, — We have watched with increasing concern and frustration the pressure and stress which the secondary-school transfer process has imposed on our grandson and daughter who have the misfortune — as far as this process is concerned — to live in Wheath

SIR, - We have watched with increasing concern and frustration the pressure and stress which the secondary-school transfer process has imposed on our grandson and daughter who have the misfortune - as far as this "process" is concerned - to live in Wheathampstead.

Parents are encouraged to make a reasoned choice of schools for their child only to find in many cases that the choice is totally ignored without any satisfactory explanation. Add to that the unhelpful and apparently-inconsistent way in which the process is managed - invitations to meetings suddenly withdrawn, contradictory information from Herts County Council staff and a convoluted system for continued interest and appeals to name but a few examples - and you have what seems to us a perfect recipe for creating the maximum anxiety and uncertainty for the parents and children concerned.

While our grandson has eventually been offered a place at a chosen school, many of his friends are still enmeshed in the process causing increasing worry and uncertainty for both children and parents - an additional burden in SATs week. A fairer and more-responsive system is urgently needed to avoid yet another shambles next year.

SUE and GRAHAM DANBURY,

Salisbury Avenue, St Albans.