Falling school rolls: A London problem, but with a change to funding, is it an educational opportunity?
6 July 2021
Pupil falling rolls is a serious issue for primary schools right across London. A gradual fall in children entering reception was confirmed in 2018 as a trend.
Contributing factors include; a fall in birth rate, the uncertainty brought about by Brexit causing some families to leave the UK, and more recently, the global pandemic demonstrating to more families how they can work in London while living further afield. This is intertwined with the increasing lack of affordability of housing in the private sector, particularly in central London.
School funding is driven by pupil numbers, the more pupils a school has on roll, the more funding it receives. Unused or vacant school places create an immediate cost for schools through reduced budgets, which in turn can affect the overall sustainability and quality of education standards at the school.
Councillor Jasmine Ali, cabinet member for children, young people and schools, said: “This is a London-wide problem, and perhaps exists in other city centres nationally. We are fighting hard to ensure that this only has a positive impact on children’s education, and I will be writing to the Education Secretary to ask for schools to be fairly funded, rather than per capita pupil. We are committed to getting fairer funding to allow schools to remain open, because with smaller classrooms, we can see an opportunity within our grasp to turn this into a benefit for the education of our children, but we need the system to change.”
Southwark Council has already been to the schools adjudicator to bring down pupil admission numbers for a number of primary schools to help manage the fall in rolls.
Cllr Ali continues: “We actively encourage schools to work together through partnerships, mergers and federations and to open buildings up, where possible, for wider community use. But ultimately, with a heavy heart, it looks like we will have to agree that a school will close. This is never a happy outcome for families who have invested emotionally in their local school. However, where schools close, we will find a place for every child in another, excellent local school nearby.”
In recent years, the council has invested £200m in a school development and expansion programme which has brought much needed improvement to the quality of the educational experience and outcomes of so many pupils in Southwark. Now, it hopes to take this further and turn the issue of fewer children requiring school places as a chance to focus on the future. With fairer DfE funding for the school as a whole, head teachers can focus their budgets on the provision for those on the roll.
The council is working with all schools to be able to provide the high quality and standards we have come to expect in Southwark. We continue to explore every avenue to avoid such drastic action as a school closure.
Page last updated: 06 July 2021
