Huge city council cash injection to fund much needed high school places

Almost £4m will be drawn down if cabinet members sign off on the plans

Almost £4m is to be pumped into a Liverpool school to help ease the pressure on the city’s educational place challenges. In response to an increasing need for school places, Liverpool Council funds the construction and refurbishment of school buildings using the Basic Need capital grant provided by the Department for Education (DfE). With work already done to provide needed spaces at a city girls school, finances are being made available to create 30 new places for boys in Aigburth.

The local authority’s cabinet is poised to sign off on £3.9m to be drawn down from the capital grant to All Saints Multi-Academy Trust to fund construction and refurbishment of school buildings at St Margaret’s Church of England Academy.

All Saints Multi-Academy Trust were approached to increase their Planned Admission Number - the amount of pupils per year group - from 160 to 180 for September 2024, increasing to 190 from September 2025 onwards. The school met the DfE requirements for the creation of additional places based on the planning area it serves, physical capacity to extend and is well placed in terms of governance and performance.

A report issued to cabinet members ahead of their meeting next week set out how pupil place planning considers the predicted long-term needs for new school places arising from population growth. As a commissioner of school places, Liverpool Council undertakes an annual audit of school capacity and uses data to allow accurate and robust forecasting for school places at both primary and secondary level, including data on school capacity, live birth data, pupil numbers, housing development yields and in-year transfers to project the number of school places which will be needed.

The council then works to provide additional places through the expansion of existing schools. For a number of years, the city has faced a challenging time in providing sufficient secondary school places, particularly in good or outstanding schools.

Using planning area forecasts, significant work has already been undertaken to create places within existing provision in areas of demand. This has included the creation of 70 new places in all girls’ schools.

In order to secure a balance of provision by providing additional boys places within this planning area, discussions have taken place with St Margarets Church of England Academy to permanently increase their planned admission number by 20 places per year group from 2024, increasing to 30 from September 2025. The cash boost is expected to be approved when cabinet meets on Tuesday November 12.