Victorian state schools with large numbers of students from outside their area will soon start rejecting families following changes that wind back parents' school choice.

Under new Education Department rules, schools will not be entitled to extra portable classrooms from next year if 50 per cent or more of their students do not live locally.

Divya Sharma says parents should have the right to send their children to the school of their choice Credit:Darrian Traynor

Turning away out-of-area families has been a long-running practice at zoned schools and now, other schools will start refusing enrolments on similar grounds.

The move is a departure from successive governments' mantra of families being able to choose the school of their choice, and is aimed at curbing the growth of large schools and encouraging students to attend their nearest school.