Rising numbers of children face being educated in mobile classrooms and disused public buildings because of a desperate shortage of primary school places, the Telegraph has learned.
Thousands of children face being taught in temporary accommodation as councils attempt to cope with a sudden surge in pupil numbers. Photo: ALAMY
As many as a third of councils are preparing to take emergency measures in the coming academic year to cope with an unprecedented surge in pupil numbers, it emerged.
Just days before most parents receive offers of primary school places for September, it was revealed that many head teachers were set to erect portable classrooms in playgrounds and school fields to create additional capacity for infants.
But some local authorities are planning to convert buildings such as police stations, churches, council offices and shops into new schools to ease the pressure on existing state primaries. It emerged that:
• In Bristol, the old Redland Police Station will be transformed into an annex for the nearby St John’s CofE Primary School – creating an extra 30 places in September – and the council is also considering turning its social services offices into a new school for 420 pupils;
• Barking and Dagenham Council has already converted a council building into a new school and is in talks over the purchase of a retail park – complete with existing Halfords store – to create additional capacity;
• Brent in north London has created 430 "high quality" temporary places at sites including a children’s centre and former community centre for September;
• In Windsor and Maidenhead, the council is searching for "non-traditional" buildings to use as schools, with councillors reportedly looking at warehouses, parades of shops and churches;
• An entire temporary primary school is being planned in Whiteley, Hampshire, using a series of elaborate mobile classrooms to tackle the shortage of places for local pupils.
The move comes after the National Audit Office warned last month that 240,000 more primary school places would be needed next year to cope with a rise in pupil numbers caused by a hike in the birth-rate and immigration.
Separate research suggested that any influx of Romanians and Bulgarians could put a strain on schools.
Next week, hundreds of thousands of parents across England will find out which primary school their children have got into for September. Allocations have already been made in some areas.
Nationally, an estimated one-in-seven children – 85,000 – are expected to miss out on their first-choice primary, with numbers rising to at least 20 per cent in major cities such as London.
The scramble for places is expected to lead to a flood of official appeals against school allocations by parents.
Matt Richards, an appeals lawyer, said he had already received high numbers of calls from certain areas of England, adding that the numbers of children missing out on their preferred choice could "creep up" this year.
"In terms of pupils, my gut feeling is there will be a shortage of places in some areas and children will miss out," he said.
The Department for Education insisted that £5billion would be spent by 2015 creating new school places – more than double the amount spent by Labour in the same timeframe.
It will lead to the creation of 190,000 extra places, it was claimed.
But Cllr Peter John, Labour leader of Southwark Council and spokesman on education for the 33 London boroughs, claimed applications for Government funding to create more primary school places was being tied up in red tape.
“London’s local authorities are committed to providing enough school places for every child in the capital but this is becoming an incredibly challenging task,” he said. “Boroughs have worked tirelessly to try and plug the shortfall in places but class sizes cannot keep expanding forever – we need enough money for permanent school places for all of London’s children.”
The Telegraph surveyed around 50 local authorities in England.
Of those that provided information, a third said they were planning to create “additional capacity in temporary premises” – mainly mobile classrooms.
Tameside in Manchester said it was creating 164 extra places for this September – 60 of which will be in "demountable” buildings.
Hillingdon Council, west London, said it was planning to install five temporary classrooms across three schools for September.
In Derby, temporary expansions will take place at 18 schools from September.
Croydon Council said a series of new “modular classrooms” would be used for “at least seven years” and installed to specifications often demanded of permanent buildings.
A DfE spokeswoman said: "By September, we expect 190,000 extra places will have been created, with many more still to come. We are confident that our huge investment will mean councils are able to deal with the extra demand for primary school places through building new schools and expanding existing good ones.
"We are working with local authorities to ensure funding is targeted where it is most needed.”
• In Windsor and Maidenhead, the council is searching for "non-traditional" buildings to use as schools, with councillors reportedly looking at warehouses, parades of shops and churches;
• An entire temporary primary school is being planned in Whiteley, Hampshire, using a series of elaborate mobile classrooms to tackle the shortage of places for local pupils.
The move comes after the National Audit Office warned last month that 240,000 more primary school places would be needed next year to cope with a rise in pupil numbers caused by a hike in the birth-rate and immigration.
Separate research suggested that any influx of Romanians and Bulgarians could put a strain on schools.
Next week, hundreds of thousands of parents across England will find out which primary school their children have got into for September. Allocations have already been made in some areas.
Nationally, an estimated one-in-seven children – 85,000 – are expected to miss out on their first-choice primary, with numbers rising to at least 20 per cent in major cities such as London.
The scramble for places is expected to lead to a flood of official appeals against school allocations by parents.
Matt Richards, an appeals lawyer, said he had already received high numbers of calls from certain areas of England, adding that the numbers of children missing out on their preferred choice could "creep up" this year.
"In terms of pupils, my gut feeling is there will be a shortage of places in some areas and children will miss out," he said.
The Department for Education insisted that £5billion would be spent by 2015 creating new school places – more than double the amount spent by Labour in the same timeframe.
It will lead to the creation of 190,000 extra places, it was claimed.
But Cllr Peter John, Labour leader of Southwark Council and spokesman on education for the 33 London boroughs, claimed applications for Government funding to create more primary school places was being tied up in red tape.
“London’s local authorities are committed to providing enough school places for every child in the capital but this is becoming an incredibly challenging task,” he said. “Boroughs have worked tirelessly to try and plug the shortfall in places but class sizes cannot keep expanding forever – we need enough money for permanent school places for all of London’s children.”
The Telegraph surveyed around 50 local authorities in England.
Of those that provided information, a third said they were planning to create “additional capacity in temporary premises” – mainly mobile classrooms.
Tameside in Manchester said it was creating 164 extra places for this September – 60 of which will be in "demountable” buildings.
Hillingdon Council, west London, said it was planning to install five temporary classrooms across three schools for September.
In Derby, temporary expansions will take place at 18 schools from September.
Croydon Council said a series of new “modular classrooms” would be used for “at least seven years” and installed to specifications often demanded of permanent buildings.
A DfE spokeswoman said: "By September, we expect 190,000 extra places will have been created, with many more still to come. We are confident that our huge investment will mean councils are able to deal with the extra demand for primary school places through building new schools and expanding existing good ones.
"We are working with local authorities to ensure funding is targeted where it is most needed.”
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