SIR - I am absolutely astounded by John Buckley's comments in your paper (Worcester News, March 31) about Elgar school admissions. I totally reject the premise that Worcestershire County Council sees Elgar as a place to alleviate problems facing the more difficult children and " a dumping ground for children with horrific backgrounds". Officers are clear, Elgar Technology College has not been required by the pupil admissions section to admit excluded pupils within the last two years. In the previous year only one pupil in this category was admitted, who subsequently left. As a result of the difficulties experienced by Elgar, the parents of challenging pupils who apply in year to Elgar have been contacted by our admissions officer, who has explained the situation to the parents and has successfully discouraged them from gaining admission in many cases. I agree there are some challenging young people at Elgar, as in other schools. John knows under the current school admissions code, a child cannot be refused admission based on previous behaviour. Therefore children viewed to be difficult may well have gained admission during the normal admissions round. It is important for your readers to know that the council has, within the rules, attempted to protect Elgar from the admission of an unfair proportion of challenging pupils. In addition, the council has put significant resources into the school to support its recovery. Some progress was made. Some programmes were beginning to bear fruit. Not enough and not fast enough. Tinkering around the edges with admission numbers will not help this school. Only a robust plan for the management and outcomes at the school is now appropriate. We are making some progress, the governing body is supportive, a new interim head has started and there is more to do. Negative misinformation undermines this work.Coun Liz Eyre Worcestershire County Council.