More spending on schools 'unavoidable' as classrooms fill up

October 26 2010

As many as one in five classrooms across England and Wales are now completely full, the latest figures show.

According to the statistics released by the Department for Education, a fifth of all state-run primary schools are either at capacity or have more pupils than they were designed to cater for on their books.

Furthermore, the figures show that this problem is becoming particularly acute in larger cities such as Birmingham and London, with the chairman of the Local Government Association Baroness Margaret Easton suggesting that more new schools will need to be built and more new teaching jobs filled if children are to be able to learn in "safe, clean and attractive" environments.

"Spending money to maintain or replace existing school buildings is unavoidable," she said.

"Areas experiencing booming birth rates need to be able to expand primary schools so that every child has a place not too far from their home."

The publication of the figures comes just days after the National Association for Primary Education argued that the statutory limit of having just 30 pupils per primary class is still being routinely ignored.

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