School places – some progress made, but the challenge continues

A total of 599,000 new school places were created between 2010 and 2015 at a cost of £7.5 billion – but another 420,000 places will be needed by 2021 and issues remain with over and under capacity in certain areas.

The figures have been published by the National Audit Office (NAO) in a report analysing capital funding and school places in England.

In England, there are approximately 21,200 state-funded schools, which educate 7.9 million pupils aged between four and 19.

The report – Capital Funding for Schools – found signs of pressure on school places in some areas, but spare capacity elsewhere. In 2016, 10 per cent of primary places and 16 per cent of secondary places were unfilled. But the report warns that this spare capacity does not mean that all areas have enough places, with particular pressure in London and the South East.