Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of (a) primary and (b) secondary school provision in Romford constituency.

All schools in Romford are Ofsted ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’. At primary phase, almost all schools are above the national and local authority average for the percentage achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics. Secondary schools in Romford paint a similar picture for key stage 4 where all schools but one are above the national average for pupils achieving standard and strong passes in both English and mathematics GCSE.

Over the period from 2009/10 to 2022/23, pupil numbers in Havering increased by 29% at primary phase. Primary numbers are forecast to rise by a further 2.9% by 2024/25.

In the Romford planning area, school capacity data (SCAP) for 2022 showed a changing forecast position from 6.8% spare capacity in the 2022/23 academic year to a shortfall position of 1.2% in 2024/25.

The department is co-ordinating the delivery of two primary free school projects in Havering, which will ease localised place pressure, which is associated with significant housing development, in the Rainham and Romford planning areas.

Over the period from 2009/10 to 2022/23 pupil numbers in Havering decreased by 0.6% at secondary phase. Secondary numbers are forecast to rise by 3.8% by 2024/25.

The Romford constituency falls within the central secondary planning area where SCAP data captured in 2022 again shows a changing position. Forecasts showed spare capacity of 7.3% in the 2022/23 academic year.