Parents have been left guessing over the future of a proposed new Jewish school, after its backers refused to confirm whether they would be filing their application before next week’s deadline.

Earlier this month, it was announced that the newly-created Nekadma Trust, headed by Rosh Pinah school chairman Andrew Rotenberg, would be applying to open the Kedem High School , a free Orthodox Jewish secondary school in Barnet, in time for either a September 2017 or 2018 entry.

However, following a meeting hosted by education umbrella group Pajes, it is now unclear whether an application to open the school will be made before the government’s deadline on March 2.

At the meeting, on Monday, representatives from JFS, JCoSS and Yavneh held talks with Mr Rotenberg, as well as with representatives of a group behind another proposed new school, the Modern Orthodox Secondary School (MOSS).

In a statement, a Pajes spokesperson said the possibility of increasing the capacity of current schools as well as the option of opening a new school had been discussed.

“There is a determination to ensure that the increased demand will be met as far as possible. Discussions are ongoing and a further meeting will be scheduled in due course,” the spokesperson said.

Following the meeting, Mr Rotenberg said plans to open Kedem were still in place and that he was preparing to “make filings” to the government, but would not give details. He declined to say whether he would be submitting them next week.

He said: “It was a cordial and productive meeting at which all options were discussed. I look forward to continuing these discussions as it is imperative that a solution to the current situation is implemented as soon as possible.

“The opening of Kedem High School is just one option in a series of ideas to ensure that families are able to secure places in Jewish schools for their children.

“While we are fully committed to exploring all potential options with interested parties, we still intend to progress our Kedem High School proposal in parallel for a 2018 opening at the latest, in the event that no better alternative solution can be found.

“This is exactly what I said at the public meeting that we held and there has been no change in this regard as far as I am concerned.”

Last week, Nekadma Trust’s founders held an open evening to gauge parental interest in the school. Mr Rotenberg told the assembled 290 parents that the school was just one possibility to tackle the shortage of places.