Baby boom creating 'critical' shortage of primary school places in England



The baby boom is a side effect of the vast influx of foreigners allowed in by Britain's former Labour government. Around half of the births are to non-British mothers

A baby boom is creating a 'critical' shortage of primary school places, it emerged last night. It will also affect class sizes, with more than half a million primary school children expected to be taught in classes of more than 30 from next month.

Schools are prevented by law from allowing classes in the first two years from exceeding 30. But that often simply means head teachers are forced to create much larger classes for older age groups.

The scale of the problems is such that thousands of pupils will be taught in temporary buildings when the new school year begins. A leaked Government report revealed new classrooms are needed immediately for as many as 60,000 pupils.

Ministers have attacked Labour for failing to prepare for the influx of new pupils, despite warnings schools did not have the places. Figures show the number of children at English primary schools will rise for the first time in a decade, to 3.96 million. And over the next four years they are expected to grow by another 320,000.

The report said: 'A considerable number of local authorities [are] claiming that they have been "caught out" by recent changes in demographic patterns and [are] seeking additional central funding for some 60,000 additional pupil places.'

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