Primary school places in England 'near breaking point'
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Version 0 of 1. Primary school heads and local authority leaders say that the system is reaching breaking point, with councils forced to divert or borrow funds to finance the extra primary school places needed to cope with the rising birth rate. The pressure is forcing parents in the worst-affected parts of England – London and the south-east, as well as Manchester and Birmingham – to juggle long commutes or see siblings split between different schools as the supply of school places fails to keep up with demand. The warnings come as about 600,000 families across the country wait to hear on Thursday whether their child has been given a place at their chosen primary school. Last year, about 77,000 children – nearly one in eight – failed to get a place at their first-preference school, with about a third of those not being offered any of their named choices. This year, the effects of the rising birth rate and population movement are likely to cause those figures to rise, despite efforts by local authorities to add more classrooms – efforts that they say are hampered by government policy. Kevin Baskill, the interim head of Coppice primary school in Chigwell, Essex, said a substantial number of children at his school were bussed from elsewhere in the same local authority, Redbridge, because of the uneven demand for places. “In reality, what we have now isn’t giving parents any choice. There are many parents in Redbridge, and it’s the same in most other London boroughs, where they have one, two or three children in different schools. “Often schools are expanding in areas where they are not needed, in terms of where the pupils live. Sometimes you’ll have children attending one school in one part of the borough, but because there are no places there, [parents] are having to cross the borough for a sibling to go to another school.” The Local Government Association says there could be 900,000 more pupils in state schools in England over the next decade, based on official figures. It estimates that £12bn will be needed to create places for all of these pupils – and that the pressure on primary schools will continue to grow next year. The government argues that £7bn was allocated for school building over the last parliament – but that figure includes spending on renovation and replacement of England’s ageing school infrastructure, as well as building extra capacity. To fill the gap left by “basic needs” capital funding, councils have had to spend their own money – up to £1bn, according to the LGA – to create about 300,000 new places since 2010. Reading, a rapidly growing borough, has recently borrowed £34m for new school buildings, while Essex council has had to find £38m for the same reason. David Simmonds, chair of the LGA’s children and young people board, said the next government should fully fund the places needed, as well as restoring to councils the power to plan and open new schools. Current Department for Education regulations are aimed at opening only new academies and free schools. “Our fear is that we will reach a tipping point when councils or schools cannot afford the massive cost of creating places or find the space necessary for new classes,” he said. “This tipping point is the biggest challenge the next education secretary will face, and councils need a firm commitment that politicians will do everything necessary to ensure no child goes without a place.” Baskill said the situation was likely to get worse for parents in local authorities such as Redbridge, as councils exhaust their capacity to expand. “Many children come on buses from the south of the borough because there are no places [there]. So you have all those issues for large numbers of children at quite a young age. It can affect attendance – there’s a greater pressure on getting to school on time,” he said. “For parents, they’ve got two or three children in different schools, how can they all be on time? You’re actually having to work out how you can help them.” Russell Hobby, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers – which represents many primary school heads – said Redbridge’s experience fitted the patterns of shortage and uncertainty elsewhere in England. “The expected number of new pupils is equivalent to around 11,000 additional classes over the next few years. There is not sufficient capital to meet this. This also means – unless we accept larger class sizes – 11,000 more teachers, at a time when [teacher] recruitment is getting increasingly tough.” Last year, more than 22,000 families failed to be offered any of their named school choices, while about 4,000 children were left without any place on offer day itself. The Conservative manifesto, published on Tuesday, boasted of the 500 free schools it plans to open, and of the improvements in teaching and schools it wants to see. But all that will count for nothing if too many families can’t get their children into a school they are happy with in the first place. |