Concerns raised over lack of Shrewsbury secondary school places
Concerns have been raised that there are not enough secondary school places in Shrewsbury to cope with soaring demand from new housing developments.
With all secondary schools in the town currently at or over capacity, Shropshire Council has come under fire for sending children to schools on the other side of the town from where they live.
But the authority says numbers are not expected to keep rising, meaning there is no need for another school to be built.
In a question to the council’s cabinet, Labour Councillor Rosemary Dartnall, who represents Bayston Hill, Column and Sutton, said more than 10 children from Mereside Primary School had been allocated places at Shrewsbury Academy nearly five miles away, despite living close to three other schools.
She said: “Column and Sutton division has many hundreds of new homes, and residents often express concern that their children will not have a school place when the time comes because they live in new homes and fear inadequate infrastructure is in place.
“This particular school year includes a high birth rate and therefore a statistical bump in numbers moving through education, but will this happen in subsequent years?”
Councillor Kirstie Hurst-Knight, portfolio holder for children and education, said it was acknowledged that the high birth rate for this year’s cohort had put extra pressure on school capacity, but forecasts showed this was a one-off.
She also stressed that the whole town was in one secondary school catchment area and parental preference was unpredictable, meaning it was not always possible to offer places at families’ chosen schools.
Councillor Hurst-Knight said: “Whilst the local authority has planned as best we can for this large cohort for September 2023 through the provision of additional school places, until applications are received we have no way of knowing exactly how many applicants will state a preference for each school.
“Applicants that live in the Shrewsbury secondary school catchment area and apply for the Shrewsbury secondary school nearest to their home address will be ranked higher in the allocation list for that school than other applicants in‐catchment.”
Councillor Hurst Knight added that a county-wide review of secondary school capacity had got underway this year.
She said: “This will result in the drawing up of a county-wide five to 10 year strategic plan for the provision of additional school places to meet forecast increased demand in future years.
“The provision of additional secondary school places in Shrewsbury will feature in this plan, and discussions with senior leaders in the town’s secondary schools have already been initiated.”
