State schools across England are suffering from a shortage of spaces in key year groups, sparking fears they will be unable to cope with an influx of pupils following Labour’s decision to impose VAT on private school fees.
State schools may have no spare capacity for private pupils, figures suggest The first two years of secondary school are the most overstretched, figures suggest.
Years 7 and 8 are the most overstretched, with 20 councils reporting no capacity for Year 7 pupils, while 13 face similar pressures in Year 8.
Councils such as Trafford, Warrington, and Sutton are already oversubscribed in critical primary year groups like Years 5 and 6, leaving parents concerned about their children’s transition to secondary schools.
Department for Education sources have said that some schools operate with more capacity than recorded in surveys and that additional spaces have been created since the data was collected from the academic year 2022-23.
