Almost one in five primary schools has too many pupils, Labour survey finds
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Version 0 of 1. Almost one in five primary schools across England does not have enough space for its pupils, according to a Labour party study timed for the week in which parents must finalise their primary school applications. In response to freedom of information (FoI) requests to local authorities Labour found that 18% of schools were cited as being over capacity, with another 9% at capacity. The party argues that this is partly down to the coalition policy of diverting money to new free schools, even though a number of these are seemingly opened in areas without sufficient demand. The same exercise found that 78% of English local authorities said they would be in need of yet more additional primary school places by September 2017, increasing the pressure still further. Parents with children due to start school in England this September must complete the application process by Thursday, with places allocated in mid-April, just before the general election. The FoI exercise received answers from 124 local authorities. Another 24 did not respond or sent unusable answers, and the study also notes that some responses might not have included data for free schools or academies. In all, 2,289 primary schools were found to be over capacity, out of 13,063 among the local authorities involved. Labour has pointed to examples of over-capacity schools resorting to innovative measures to accommodate extra pupils. One primary in Northumberland has converted an old double-decker bus into extra teaching space, while one in Barking has eight portable classrooms occupying what was a car park and playground space. The issue of increased demand for primary school places has been rumbling for some years, with a surging birth rate bringing an estimated 450,000 more primary pupils between 2012 and this year. However, the shadow education secretary, Tristram Hunt, is arguing that this impact could have been mitigated by diverting money to overflowing schools from new free schools opened in areas without the necessary demand. The FoI study cites a National Audit Office report from December 2013 which said that by then the Department of Education had spent £241m on free schools, primary and secondary, in areas with no forecast need for extra places. Hunt said: “Parents have a big choice to make at the election in May. On education the choice is this: a Labour party committed to sensible and pragmatic solutions for overcome the growing pressures on school places, or David Cameron’s irresponsible schools policy that prioritises money for new schools in areas with surplus places. “David Cameron told us before the last election that he would deliver small schools and smaller class sizes. Instead Cameron’s classroom squeeze has seen a 200% increase in the number of infant children taught in classes of more than 30. Labour will ensure that spending on new schools is prioritised in areas of need.” A similar FoI exercise by Labour late last year found that more than 80% of free schools opened during 2014 had unfilled places, totalling 2,256 places in all. The new FoI requests also found that 17% of secondary schools were over capacity. According to Labour, local authorities in particular need of more school spaces include Peterborough, forecast to need more than 2,200 new primary school places and almost 2,000 secondary school places by September 2017, Leicestershire, where the equivalent figures are 1,900 and 1,700, and Cheshire West and Chester, expected to need just over 2,300 more primary places. |