Super-sized primaries to teach 800 children

A new generation of super-sized primary schools is being created to house more than 800 children at a time.

Figures obtained by the Tories highlight that the number of pupils being taught in "giant" primaries has risen by more than 50 per cent since Labour came to power. Now councils are being forced to expand large schools even further to ease the chronic shortage of primary places in London.

Councils warn they are being forced to consider radical steps to cope with a surge in demand. High birth rates and fewer parents choosing private education in the downturn mean two thirds of London boroughs are experiencing a shortage of places.

Town halls estimate they will need to accommodate 50,000 extra pupils over the next seven years. Adding extra classes each year is becoming increasingly common. The Tory figures show:

There are now 40 primaries of more than 700 pupils in London, compared with 30 across the rest of England.

Eleven are in inner London and 29 in outer London boroughs.

Nationally, the number of children taught in primary schools of more than 800 pupils rose by more than half, from 9,266 in 1997 to 14,127 this year.

Shadow schools minister Nick Gibb said: "Smaller schools tend to have fewer problems with discipline. Schools have become larger as government rules mean new schools are effectively unable to open." He said the Tories wanted to "free up the system" to allow new schools to open.

Nicholas Stanton, schools spokesman for lobby group London Councils, said no one wanted to see schools "too large for their own good" with four or five forms of entry, and 120 to 150 pupils in each year.

Evening Standard found plans for new schools of up to 800 pupils each in Wandsworth, Richmond, Waltham Forest, Croydon and Enfield. The largest primaries already open are "linked pairs" of junior and infant. In Enfield there are two of the largest in London — Eldon and Hazelbury junior and infant schools — each teaching more than 1,000 pupils aged three to 11.

Waltham Forest has four schools with four forms of entry — up to 120 pupils in each year — and plans to create one more. Four primary schools in Kingston each took up to 120 pupils in their reception year last year and three are expected to do so this year.