Yorkshire Post Says: Schools squeezed

In Yorkshire, thousands of families are expected to be affected by the 2022/23 academic year, with schools in York anticipated to be over-subscribed by September 2018, those in Hull in the same position from 2019 and Sheffield and Leeds following suit from autumn 2020.

Recent government projections indicate that secondary school numbers in England are set to rise by almost a fifth over the next decade, fuelled by a rising birth rate in the early 2000s.

A squeeze on school places is already apparent, with parents lodging more than 60,000 appeals this year after their children were denied places at favoured schools. In one-fifth of the cases, the appeals were granted.

For the Local Government Association, the organisation which has done the research, the answer is simple - give councils new powers to force academies and free schools to expand to meet any need for new places. Its other suggestion is to return powers to councils to allow them to open new schools themselves.

For the Government’s part, it intends to open 500 free schools by September 2020 which it hopes will go a considerable way to easing the pressure on places.

The situation is complex - but the Department for Education must take decisive action to ensure the numbers add up when it comes to providing adequate school places for families across the country.