1,600 children could be left without school place

A £250 million plan to reorganise secondary education could leave almost 1,600 pupils without a school place in just over a decade's time.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council may be forced to expand its new academies not long after they are built, so it can help tackle this predicted shortfall of places.

And if pupil numbers rise even further in future, taxpayers could end up footing the bill for more schools to be built – several years after four high schools are closed.

Today, the city council refused to explain why it is only allocating 13,050 places for 11 to 16-year-olds as part of its Building Schools for the Future programme.

Yet by 2019/20, its own figures, contained in a strategy document approved by the Government, show there are set to be 14,642 youngsters in the city's secondary system.

The council proposals include reducing the overall number of high schools from 17 to 13, including having five academies. It has justified its plans by saying it needs to slash surplus places and ensure every school has viable numbers.

Now campaigners fighting to save Trentham High from closure are calling for a review. They claim the reorganisation proposals are "doomed to failure", because some schools will end up being built too small.

Stuart Thompson, from Trentham, said: "It's ridiculous. They will need the equivalent of two new schools by 2020."

He currently sends his 11-year-old daughter to Trentham High and has a nine-year-old daughter at one of its feeder schools, Ash Green Primary.

Mr Thompson added: "I can't see why they won't keep the high school open if they are going to need more places."

The Sentinel understands the problem may be partly down to Government regulations, which mean local authorities can only plan school places using data for a 10-year period and they face tough limits on surplus capacity.

Although the number of children being born in Stoke-on-Trent is beginning to rise, after years of decline, some of these youngsters won't reach secondary age until after 2018.

As it means projecting so far ahead, the pupil numbers may prove to be an over-estimate. But if all 14,642 pupils do materialise in the high schools, there would be a major squeeze on classroom space.

The council would need to apply for extra Government cash if it wants to build extensions at the schools.

Roger Ibbs, portfolio holder for children and young people's services, said the pupil projections have been checked several times.

He added: "In his recent approval of the plans, the schools minister Jim Knight affirmed that the document, and the council's approach, were indeed sound. There will be no review of the programme."