Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what demographic projections her Department holds to model future (a) primary and (b) secondary school places in the Worcestershire County Council area over the next five years.

As part of the school capacity survey 2025, Worcestershire Local Authority submitted information on school capacity and forecasts of the number of pupils that the local authority expects to provide a mainstream school place for. This data is published at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity/2024-25.

As part of this release, modelled estimates of future school place demand at planning area and Local Authority level are also published. This data is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity/2024-25.

The department estimates that in the 2029/30 academic year, there will be 8,364 spare primary places and 5,665 spare secondary places in Worcestershire. Please note that viewing surpluses at local authority level data may mask shortfalls in planning areas within the local authority.

It is for local authorities, in collaboration with academy trusts and other local partners, to balance the supply and demand of school places in line with changing demographics.