Primary school population to hit a 50-year high
The equivalent of more than 3,200 new primary schools will be needed by the end of the decade as the pupil population soars to a 50-year high, it emerged today.
Figures show almost 800,000 additional children aged 11 or under will be in state education by 2020 because of rising birth rates and the effects of immigration.
According to the Department for Education, the primary population is set to soar by a fifth – reaching its highest level since the early 70s.
The disclosure underlines the crisis facing local authorities in some areas that are being forced to cope with the biggest surge in school applications.
It also prompted fresh claims that Labour ignored repeated warnings over the looming population boom by cutting primary school places.
Local authorities in parts of London, the West Midlands and South West have already been forced to install mobile classrooms and educate children in church halls in recent years because of a shortage of space.
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... (Daily Telegraph - 24 January)