Majority of high school first year classes are packed full
‘Severe shortage of places’
MORE than half of secondary schools in England are either ‘full or over capacity’ with their youngest pupils. Headmasters are cramming children into Year Seven classrooms as ever-rising numbers of primary school pupils feed into secondaries.
The problem, affecting the first year of secondary schools, is spreading to higher years. Four in ten schools are full or above their ‘overall net capacity’.
The figures, obtained by the Liberal Democrats, will renew concern about unprecedented pressure on schools amid rising immigration and a baby boom that began more than a decade ago.
The research is based on Freedom of Information data from up to 100 councils across the country, 48 of which provided details on Year Seven capacity this September.
The analysis of 903 secondary schools shows that 53 per cent are either ‘full or over capacity’ in Year Seven classes, up from 44 per cent two years ago.
Being over capacity means the schools admitted more pupils than their published admissions number.
Meanwhile, 756 out of 1,853 secondaries are ‘either full or above their net capacity’ across all years.
This means the number of pupils at the schools is above the recommended level given the amount of teaching space available.
Areas with the highest proportion of over capacity secondary schools include Rutland in the East Midlands with 86 per cent, Slough in Berkshire with 80 per cent and Soli- hull in the West Midlands with 78.5 per cent. Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Layla Moran said the figures exposed the ‘growing school places crisis in many areas’.
She accused the Government of spending millions on free schools, ‘many of which open in areas where there’s no shortage of places’.
She said: ‘Each year, our classrooms are getting more overcrowded and our teachers more overworked.’
Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, added: ‘There’s a severe shortage of places and it looks as though the government has been caught out.
‘There has been a baby boom, with immigrants tending to have very large families. That has been affecting primary schools and it’s now moving into secondary schools.
‘Given that we were aware of the extra numbers in primary schools, it’s surprising that the government hasn’t made available enough places in secondary schools.’
In June, it emerged that numbers of pupils missing out on their first choice secondary schools were the highest since the start of the decade. One in six children in England – almost 93,000 – lost out on their top preference this year, increasing to almost half in some London boroughs, according to Department for Education (DfE) statistics.
But in April the DfE approved applications for 131 new free schools, creating more than 69,000 places.
A DfE spokesman said: ‘The vast majority of parents secure a place for their child at their first choice of secondary school – 83.5 per cent this year. We have created 735,000 new school places since 2010 – with 136,000 more in the last year alone.’