Migration crisis fuels shortage of places at secondary schools

UP to half of children in some areas are expected to miss out on their first- choice secondary school when places are announced next week.

Head teachers are battling a crisis with growing pressure for places. A baby boom fuelled by migration has produced ever-increasing numbers of children leaving primaries.

Ministers have known about the impending problem for many years. Despite this, councils estimate they will need tens of thousands of extra secondary places by 2020. Figures released yesterday suggest a growing number of secondary schools are struggling to keep up with demand, with some only able to take children living just minutes away from the school gates.

Almost half of England’s secondary schools are now oversubscribed, and the numbers are increasing, according to the statistics. The findings come before 11-year-olds across the country learn what school they will be attending from September, on what is known as National Offer Day next Tuesday.

At least 28 secondary schools in England are now so in demand that children will only get in on proximity grounds if they live within a kilometre (just over half a mile) of the site.

One popular school in Nottinghamshire has a cut- off distance of 187 metres (204 yards), while another in Birmingham has one of 357 metres ( 390 yards). Ed Rushton of Findaschool – a service run by the online directory 192.com – which carried out the research, said the trend was set to continue for the foreseeable future. He told the Times Educational Supplement: ‘The increase is no surprise given the growing school-age population.

‘To date the effects have been felt mainly in the primary sector, but the rising demand for places is now starting to affect secondary schools. It’s likely that these distances will end up shrinking in many cases.

‘But the wider concern is that there is an increasing number of oversubscribed schools now, which means there is an increasing number of people who are not getting the school that they want.’

The data, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, says 47 per cent of secondaries were oversubscribed last year – equivalent to more than 1,500 schools – up from 43 per cent in 2014.

Of 28 schools with a catchment area of less than a kilometre, 25 had shrunk the distance would-be pupils needed to live within since the previous year.

At Quarrydale Academy, in Nottinghamshire, families had to live within 204 yards to secure a place, according to the website. For Rockwood Academy in Birmingham, it was 390 yards. Admissions rules are set by councils and schools, and they may prioritise other criteria besides catchment area, admitting pupils who have older siblings already at a school, for example.

Official figures show that 84.2 per cent of children got their first choice of secondary school last year, down one percentage point from 85.2 per cent in 2014.

However, in London almost a third of children missed out on their first choice and in some boroughs it was half. Secondary applications increased by 2.3 per cent last year, government data shows.

A Department for Education spokesman said: ‘The Government doubled the funding for school places to £5billion in the last parliament, which has helped create half a million new school places.

‘A further £7billion has been committed to create more places over the next six years.’

‘Distances will shrink further’