The shortage of north London Jewish secondary school places is a problem that could have been forecast by any five-year-old with a basic grasp of numbers. With an ever-rising number of Jewish primary school places not matched by an increase in secondary places, there could only ever be more applicants than there are places at 11. Quite why this basic fact has not been understood is a mystery. That said, King Solomon High School in Essex stands ready and willing to accept any pupil who has missed out on a place elsewhere. Essex is hardly the other side of the world.