Schools full to bursting

MORE than a quarter of Oldham schools are running above capacity — but other schools have more than 3,000 empty places in other parts of the borough, new figures show.

The Department for Education said 32 out of 88 primary schools and five of the 13 secondary schools had at least one pupil over their limit.

Across England, just 20 per cent of schools were oversubscribed.

Figures for the 2011/12 school year show there are 21,657 primary children on the books and 16,145 secondary-school children.

Forecasts released by the DfE show numbers are set to increase to 22,264 for primary youngsters but fall to 16,054 for secondary pupils by 2015/16.

But the figures also show large numbers of unfilled places across Oldham.

According to the DfE, there are 2,290 unfilled places for secondary school-aged children — 9.7 per cent of the total stock and a further 2,290 primary places — 6.7 per cent.

However, this can largely be explained by geographical disparities as well as the fact that the vacancies are for a different age group to the children needing places.

Nationally, 10.4 per cent of all primary places are vacant and 11 per cent of secondary schools.

Critics said figures highlight the Government’s decision to slash 60 per cent from the capital budget, including scrapping the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

But the DfE said it is targeting funding in the areas facing a critical shortfall to help them provide extra school places.

Schools Minister Lord Hill said: “We’re creating thousands more places to deal with the impact of soaring birth rates on primary schools.

“We’re more than doubling targeted investment at areas facing the greatest pressure on numbers — to over £4bn in the next four years.

“We are building free schools and letting the most popular schools expand, to meet demand from parents.”