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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Richard Adams Education editor

Officials too slow to act on falling pupil numbers in England, says watchdog

A teacher works with two pupils on a science experiment
Primary school pupil numbers started to drop in 2018 and are expected to decline by a further 7% by 2030. Photograph: SolStock/Getty Images

A failure to account for England’s falling birthrate is leading to a glut of school places and a potential £1bn fall in pupil funding over the next three years, according to a National Audit Office report.

The government’s spending watchdog said the Department for Education started to specifically track the risks around changing demographics only in 2024, long after primary enrolments began falling in 2018.

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