The Church of England plans to reserve one third of places to children of Anglican families if they win the bid to run the new secondary school in north Kingston.

With only a few months before decision day around 120 parents and residents heard the rival cases from Kingston Council and the church at a public meeting at Fernhill Primary School last Friday.

One parent said: “The only proposal that provides capacity and choice is the council proposal.

“Your job is to find a school that will meet the capacity issues for local children. There’s only one bid that does that.”

But John Russell, speaking for the diocese, said its parish system would make sure the 80 foundation places went to children in Kingston town.

He said: “We want a true local school. Foundation places will not make it exclusive – they will be for local families.”

The one third proportion was chosen because one third of primary places in Kingston town were at church primary schools, he said.

During the meeting both Kingston College and Kingston University, who are part of the KET bid with the council, stressed they were not simply trying to boost their student numbers.

The university said if it won it would use its culture of research to help school staff, while the college said it could help 16-18 year olds find jobs or further studies.

The office of the schools adjudicator is expected to declare whether the Southward Diocesan Board of Education or the Kingston Educational Trust (KET) has been victorious in December this year with the school set to open in September 2015.

The deadline for comments about the two proposals is October 22.