Nursery World - Five-year-olds in London face shortage of school places

More than 5,000 five-year-olds could be without a school place over the next two years if London primary schools do not receive a huge cash injection, London Councils has warned.

The cross-party lobbying organisation said London boroughs need £740m to guarantee every five-year-old a school place over the next five years.

New research into the demand for school places, published by London Councils in its report Do the Maths, sets out the extent of the shortfall of capital funding.

It points to a growth in the capital's birth rate as the principal reason for a shortage of school places, noting that births have increased by 20.5 per cent since 2001/02.

Other factors include the economic downturn, a changing housing market which has resulted in a significant increase in the number of young children in many areas and a rise in the number of locally-born children requesting places at local schools.

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