The government says falling pupil numbers are a chance for local authorities to "completely reassess how they organise their schools".

The empty places have been created by a declining birth rate, a shifting population and parental choice.

While there has been political debate about the pressure on over-subscribed schools, the overall number of empty desks has continued to climb.

These figures show that while parents are struggling to get children into the most desirable schools there is a growing surplus in the overall supply of places.

This means that there are now hundreds of schools around the country with surpluses above 25% - and the government has previously warned that schools with this many empty places were not an effective use of funding.

In Birmingham there are 38 primary schools which have more than 25% surplus, in Durham there are 56, in Norfolk there are 60 and in Lancashire there are 90 such schools. Southampton has five secondary schools with surpluses above this threshold.

The Department for Education and Skills says local authorities can use new powers over opening and closing schools "as a rare opportunity to completely reassess how they organise and divide their schools".

The figures from the DfES show that in 2006 there were 757,623 surplus places - up by 8% since 2001.

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend