Baroness Barran has urged “caution” over closing schools in the face of falling pupil numbers, which school leaders say are hitting budgets.
The academies minister also said that there were currently no “significant plans for school closures” as primary pupil numbers in some areas plummet.
Speaking today at the Schools and Academies Show in Birmingham, she also acknowledged that primary schools “typically have a tighter financial model” than a large secondary or group of secondary schools.
The number of pupils in primary and nursery schools peaked in 2019 and has been falling over the past few years owing to falling birth rates.
Last month, government data revealed that the number of primary pupils in state schools is projected to fall by more than 410,000 over the next five years.
Asked whether standalone primary schools are struggling more financially than any other schools, Lady Barran said that the picture among trusts is that reserves have risen on average “but there are a small group where they’re running a deficit”.
“Obviously, the financial information isn’t quite as easy to get at on a school-by-school basis for maintained schools.
“But yes, in simple terms, a single primary school typically [has] a tighter financial model than a very large secondary or a group of secondaries.”
‘Extremely expensive’ to close schools
And, responding to questions over falling pupil rolls, Lady Barran said: “There has been quite a lot of discussion and some pressure that we should close schools because of the change in pupil numbers and I think there is a real caution about that because when we came into government in 2010, we inherited a period where school places were being closed.”
“But that was an extremely expensive thing to do so there aren’t plans currently that there should be significant school closures.”
The academies minister said she “heard” concerns about “financial pressures” related to falling rolls.
However, primary leaders voiced concerns about balancing the books even when they are oversubscribed.
Richard Slade, headteacher of Plumcroft Primary School in London, told Lady Barran that his school was “reviewing” whether to become an academy “for financial reasons”.
Mr Slade said that, while his school was full with a waiting list, his financial model “doesn’t really work even when [the school is] full”.
