Church issues a warning on future of village schools

♦ The Church of England has warned that it is becoming increasingly “difficult to justify” the retention of some rural schools in the wake of funding cuts.

It blamed “successive governments” for failing to ensure enough cash for schools in rural communities, even at times when “state funding as a whole looks relatively healthy”, a report published by the Church’s education office said.

“Where a school’s budget is under pressure and numbers on the roll are low, it can be difficult to justify a decision to keep a school open when significant investment would be required to bring the building up to standard,” the report added.

The Church runs 1,264 “very small” rural schools with fewer than 110 pupils.