There is a risk that hundreds of Nottinghamshire pupils could be left without a school place in their local area following “significantly less” funding from the Government.
Nottinghamshire County Council has highlighted a concerning picture of how many secondary school places will be available from September 2027.
In a cabinet report from July, the authority says its pot of money from the Government, which goes towards ensuring it can provide enough school places in the area, is “significantly less” this year, leaving it in a vulnerable position.
Between January 2018 and January 2026, the number of Year 7 pupils in Nottinghamshire increased by 10 per cent, from 8,703 to 9,578, and recent projections suggest this demand is “likely to remain high” until it slowly declines from the 2029 to 2030 academic year.
The council has already taken steps to help meet this high demand, creating 1,700 additional secondary school places since 2022, enabling an extra 303 Year 7 places to open for 2026 to 2027 within existing school buildings, and progressing school building projects set to “boost” secondary school capacity from 2027 to 2030.
However, the authority is now having to pause these projects at Serlby Park Academy, Carlton Academy, South Nottinghamshire Academy and Lady Bay Primary School – worth over £10 million – because it does not have the funding it had anticipated.
Due to the reduced funding, striking figures from the cabinet report currently suggest that approximately 28 Year 7 pupils in the county could be “totally without” a school place in September 2027, with “similar shortages” anticipated for the following two years.
The authority says that, in September 2027 and September 2028, there will be an “insufficiency” of school places in Hucknall, Worksop, Harworth, Retford, Broxtowe South, Carlton, Mansfield, Warsop, Rainworth, East Leake, Rushcliffe East and West Bridgford, which could result in around 338 pupils having to be transported out of their local area to access a school.
Speaking at July’s cabinet meeting, Councillor Rory Green (Ref), cabinet member for Children and Families, called the halting of the projects a “sensible” decision and said it means the authority is not “just walking blindly” into them without the necessary funding, adding: “A pause means ‘pause’; it doesn’t mean ‘no, never again’.”
Cllr James Walker-Gurley (Ref), cabinet member for Economic Development and Asset Management, said, “There’s nothing to panic about right now”, adding: “In September next year, we may potentially fall short of places, so that gives us the summer holidays next year as well to get everything ready, so we are being proactive.
“We’re working again as members to lobby MPs, and we’re doing everything we should be doing in a proactive manner.”
Council leader Mick Barton (Ref) has written to the Secretary of State for Education to lobby for more Government funding to ensure the building projects to increase secondary school capacity can get back on track, helping to avoid shortfalls in pupil places becoming a reality.
He wrote: “The current position in Nottinghamshire is that the cost of the required places across the county is presently outstripping the available funding. We expected a further allocation of Basic Need funding this year, which was not forthcoming.
“If left unaddressed, the downstream effects could impact the sufficiency of school places, with fewer parents obtaining their first-preference school for their child.
“We have been in dialogue with your officials about funding, but this is yet to yield results… I would point out that we have an excellent track record in school building and refurbishment, with a valued and experienced team and supply chain.”
Wayne Bexton, the council’s Director of Economy, Environment and Assets, said: “This year, we did not receive a further allocation of funding as expected; therefore, we currently do not have the funding available to complete five projects at four schools and academies that we had planned, worth over £10 million.
“We have no option but to put these expansion projects on hold. These four schools and academies now face uncertainty over sufficient school places for local children and families in 2027 to 2028.”
Dr Orlaith Green, the council’s Temporary Director of Education, Learning and Inclusion, said the authority is “urgently lobbying” the Government for funding.
She said: “We have made the relevant schools and academies aware of the situation and recommend that they write to their MP and the Department for Education to describe the impact this could have on their schools, pupils and wider community.
“In Nottinghamshire, to date, we have a strong track record of providing school places, with the majority of families being offered their first-choice school place each year – we want to do everything we can to ensure this continues.
“We remain ready to deliver all these projects if and when funding is made available to us.”
The Serlby Park Academy project in Bircotes was planned to provide an additional 50 secondary school places, and the Carlton Academy expansion was due to deliver an extra 40 Year 7 places from 2027 to 2028 onwards.
In Rushcliffe, an extra 30 temporary Year 7 places were secured at South Nottinghamshire Academy for 2026 to 2027 and 2027 to 2028, enabling the school’s published admission number (PAN) to admit 180 children, up from 150.
According to the documents, “this should have led to a permanent increase for 2028 to 2029, but the expected additional places will not be available”, and the expansion at Lady Bay Primary School will also be put on hold.
The Government’s allocation to the council was £76.7 million from 2023/24 through to 2027/28, with the forecast based on data the authority provided on pupil projections until September 2028.
In spring 2027, the DfE is due to bring forward its next funding allocation to help local authorities provide sufficient school places in the future, taking any council projections into account.
By Lauren Monaghan, Local Democracy Reporter