TWO of Andover's three town schools have failed to make the grade to become specialist schools.

The news that Winton School and Harrow Way Community School have been turned down for specialist schools status is a major setback to the Andover Schools Network's plan to get all three schools recognised by September 2004.

The two unsuccessful schools now have to wait until October to resubmit their respective bids for technology status and performing arts status.

The only school to be awarded specialist status in Andover was John Hanson School, which has announced it will be deferring its specialist science status until September 2005 in the hope that the other two schools will join it by then.

John Hanson will also have to wait to receive a one-off £100,000 Government grant and an annual grant of £126 per student.

The Andover Schools Network originally launched the unique joint bid between the three town schools in March 2003 with the goal of getting all three schools recognised by September of this year.

That date has now been pushed back to September 2005 to allow the remaining two schools to meet the selection criteria set by the Department for Skills and Education (DfES).

Project coordinator Jackie Pohnert says: "Achieving specialist status very often takes two or more attempts.

"The DfES criteria are challenging, and are not easily interpreted. To get one of our schools through first time is good news.

"The governing bodies of the three schools are committed to working in partnership, and we will now put all our effort into getting the two remaining schools through in the next academic year."

Harrow Way and Winton School will resubmit their bids to become specialist schools in October and will hear if they've been successful by the end of the year.

Specialist schools now make up 62 per cent of all secondary schools in England with 1,954 schools having been awarded the Government accreditation so far.