RSS Feed
January 11th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda - More than 4,000 schools across England were at or above the limit for student numbers
- Bristol and parts of London among the hardest hit
- Rural areas have the highest number of unfilled places
By
Anthony Bond
Last updated at 5:39 PM on 10th January 2012
Worrying: New figures have revealed that a fifth of primary schools and a quarter of secondaries were full or had too many pupils last year
A fifth of primary schools and a quarter of secondaries were full or had too many pupils last year, official figures show.
Statistics published by the Department for Education (DfE) reveal that more than 4,000 schools across England were at or above the limit in terms of student numbers.
The figures suggest that some places are feeling the squeeze on places more than others – with Bristol and parts of London among those hardest hit.
The data shows that 3,438 primary schools (20.4 per cent) were full or had pupils in excess of school capacity as of May last year, along with 837 secondaries (25.4 per cent).
At the same time, nationally, there were 444,410 unfilled primary places, with a further 396,240 available in secondary schools – many of these are in rural areas.
The data shows that among those most affected by a lack of school places is Barking in east London.
The borough has 19,615 school places, but is projected to have 26,879 primary pupils by 2015/16 – a shortfall of 7,264 places.
Waltham Forest is expected to be short by 5,372 and Brent by 6,234 places.
Outside the capital, Bristol is expected to have a shortfall of 6,684 primary places by 2015/16.
The DfE said it is targeting funding at the areas facing a critical shortfall to help them provide extra school places.
Today’s figures also show that according to local authority forecasts, there is expected to be an extra 454,800 pupils at primary school nationally by 2015/16, while the number of secondary-age pupils will increase by 44,210.
Ambition: The figures come as the West London Free School, spearheaded by writer Toby Young, pictured, announced plans to open a primary school in 2013
Schools Minister Lord Hill said: ‘We’re creating thousands more places to deal with the impact of soaring birth rates on primary schools.
‘We’re more than doubling targeted investment at areas facing the greatest pressure on numbers – to over £4 billion in the next four years.
‘We are building Free Schools and letting the most popular schools expand to meet demand from parents.’
The figures come as the West London Free School, spearheaded by writer Toby Young and which opened in September, announced plans to submit an application to open a primary school in 2013.
Mr Young said that the primary would offer the same ‘classical liberal education’ as the existing secondary school.
If approved, the primary school will open with two reception classes in 2013 and take on more pupils each year.
Mr Young said the new school would help meet the demand for places in Hammersmith and Fulham.
Share this article:
Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
or debate this issue live on our message boards.
The comments below have not been moderated.
-
Newest -
Oldest -
Best rated -
Worst rated
It’s all the EU children!
Report abuse
Coming next week in the DM: there are more socks than people!!!
Report abuse
Not so in our village. The one Primary School we have is full and the intake at Reception is now having to be spread, not to the next village (also full) but to one over seven miles away and to which the public transport is minimal (one bus per hour which visits several villages before reaching the one in question). We have instances of children from the same family being sent to two different villages because places are so lacking.
Report abuse
Do they have council houses in the villages lol , if not then i am staying in london.
Report abuse
I am rural(ish) my daughter goes to the village school that has about 60 children. There are 8 in her class she is the only girl
Report abuse
They should be for the children of UK citizens only.
Report abuse
May have something to do with young families priced out of the countryside by second home owners and the retired, moving in and pushing up prices of property.
Report abuse
Difficulty in rural areas is that there is often one school with excellent results, grades and reputation in quite a large geographical area and other schools are not so good. Some a dire! House prices inevitably shot up in these good school areas (estate agents put prize schools on house adverts) and parents who cared about giving their kids the best chance scrimped and saved to be able to buy a house in the catchment area. Then along came in ingenious social engineering plan in some councils to do away with catchment priorities and have a lottery system for the good schools putting the parents efforts to waste. Until all state schools are consistently good parents will keep having to worry no matter where they live
Report abuse
I’d LOVE to move to the country but the houses cost a stupid amount of money. So I continue to live in the burbs which isn’t too bad really.
Report abuse
The pros and cons – in town you have probably more choice of infant and primary schools, so irrespective of class size you can choose a good school (or from one of several sometimes) within walking distance. In the country there are often smaller classes but there is only one for miles and you have to drive there or send your 5-year-old on bus in some cases, and there is no choice over the quality of teaching, which can still be poor despite the small numbers because the school does not have to compete for pupils.
Report abuse
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
Posted in 
Tags: 
