Falling pupil numbers have “significant implications for the value for money of the school system”, according to a new report from the National Audit Office (NAO).
Nationally, demand for primary school places fell 3 per cent between 2018/19 and 2024/25, with the Department for Education (DfE) projecting a further 7 per cent fall from 2025 to 2030.
The NAO found that the DfE has not taken “timely action” to set out how it will support the sector to respond to falling pupil numbers – albeit has begun to respond as part of its recent estates strategy, focusing on setting out how unneeded space could best be used.
To secure value for money, and maximise funding spent on educational outcomes, local authorities need to assess the places needed now and in the future, the report says.
Cllr Amanda Hopgood, Chair of the LGA’s Children, Young People and Families Committee, said: “The DfE should ensure that all schools, including academies, work together to manage the implications of a fall in pupil numbers, and to minimise the impact on children’s long-term educational attainment.
“Schools are at the heart of communities and should remain open wherever possible and used where they can. The DfE should see that there are arrangements in place to ensure flexibility in how any spare space is used, so they benefit communities.”