The mother of identical twin boys who wants their school to keep them in the same class has claimed a partial victory.

Anna MacDonald has argued that John Ray Infant School in Braintree is wrong to have a blanket policy on placing multiple birth children in separate classes.

Her boys Duncan and Bobby, four, were separated when they joined the Notley Road school in September.

A representative from the Department for Education has now said: “We will be writing to the school to make it clear that they must not have a blanket policy in relation to the separation of twins and that any written policy they have must ensure that the individual circumstances of each case are taken into account.”

However, they said the school had taken into account the individual circumstances of the children and the government would not rule on whether they should be placed in the same class.

Mrs MacDonald, 36, of John Ray Gardens, Black Notley, said: “It is good news in the sense that they can’t have the policy, but it’s still not clear what that means for Bobby and Duncan."

See this week's Braintree Times for the full story.