New plans put 1:10 secondary schools at risk

Thursday January 31, 2008 The Guardian

Ministers order review after figures show almost 800,000 empty places Polly Curtis, education editor

A tenth of secondary schools have a quarter of student places empty
Plans to close a significant number of secondary schools in urban and rural areas are being drawn up because of a sharp fall in pupil numbers, the Guardian has learned. Almost one in 10 secondary schools has more than 25% surplus places, according to official figures.
Ministers have ordered a review of what to do about the increasing number of empty classroom seats in England, as the latest figures suggest there are 792,000 surplus places in schools. Local authorities are devising detailed plans to overhaul their school estates to fit the shifting school-age population.
School closures are proving controversial around the country. In Stoke-on-Trent, Herefordshire and the Isle of Wight, parent-led campaigns are increasing political pressure on the government to keep schools open. Shropshire county council was forced to abandon plans to close 22 primary schools last night after sustained parental protests.
The surplus of places leaves ministers facing the prospect of more school closures. The emotive issue could take on great significance in marginal seats. It is expected that some closures will be announced before the next general election, but the bulk will follow.
The government's figures, published this week, suggest that the decline in the number of primary-aged pupils is stabilising, with the impact beginning to hit secondaries all over the country.
John Dunford, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "Over the next five years falling [pupil] rolls are sharpest in secondary schools, [these] schools will reduce in size and some will become unviable."
The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has commissioned a review, jointly with the Audit Commission, of how to respond to the falls in pupil numbers. Key lines of inquiry include what savings might be made by removing surplus places and whether a nationally recognised minimum number of pupils should be agreed for secondary schools.
Local authorities are also drawing up plans to rebuild their school estates under the £50bn Building Schools for the Future programme, which will include widespread reorganisations, closures and mergers. "The programme will result in fewer schools," the DCSF said.
Official plans for rebuilding schools in four areas, seen by the Guardian, suggest that under-subscribed and poorer performing schools will be closed. Where there are too few pupils, schools with improving results could also shut.
Dunford said: "Vacant places cost money and there are plenty of other ways that money could be better spent." Closures would reduce options for parents to chose a school for their child, a key government promise, he added.
Tim Byles, chief executive of Partnerships for Schools, which is running the Building Schools programme, said construction projects would "reflect local needs and the reality of pupil numbers and demographic trends".
The plans for secondary schools were revealed after ministers moved to draw a line under the dispute over the closure of small rural primaries yesterday. Jim Knight, the schools minister, is to order councils to protect rural schools, but he was criticised after guidance from his department suggested local authorities should "ensure that no [primary] school has more than 25% surplus places".
Knight said: "We require councils to assess the full impact of closure on rural communities and allow every single parent to have their voice heard - and I am writing to local authorities to underline their legal duty to protect popular rural schools."
The shadow children's secretary, Michael Gove, said: "We know small schools provide an excellent education, so we should be doing everything possible to support them."

http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2249693,00.html