408 new secondary school classrooms urgently required in Wales by 2020/21

• Wales will see more than 12,247 additional pupils enter the secondary school system by 2020/2021.

• 408 new school classrooms or 12 new schools are need  to meet demand

• Since 2013, nearly 200 schools have closed in Wales (and only 69 have opened)

An additional 12,247 pupils will join the Welsh school system by 2020/2021, as revealed in  the latest research by Scape Group, the public sector procurement specialist. To meet this demand, 408 additional secondary school classrooms or 12 new secondary schools are needed across the country.

Scape’s report, The School Places Challenge 2019, examines the challenge facing the UK’s school system using Department of Education and devolved authority data. The report reveals that Wales’ school-aged population is set to increase by 7.8 per cent over the next two years. All demand will come from secondary school pupils, while there is no requirement to build new primary schools.

As well as fighting with a growing secondary school population, Wales also continues to face  school closures. Nearly 200 schools have closed in Wales (and only 69 have opened) since 2013 as the education landscape changes and local authorities struggle with budget cuts. All but two of Wales’ 22 local authorities – Swansea and Newport – have closed schools in the past five years. Although it is currently projected that Wales will only need 12 new schools by 2020/21, if they continue to close, this figure could become much higher.

New schools and improvements to existing school buildings are being financed through the 21st Century Schools Programme, an initiative that is jointly funded by the Welsh government and local authorities. This is a long-term strategy for Wales’ educational estate. The second phase of investment announced in 2017 dedicated £2.3bn to rebuilding or updating more than 100 school and college buildings, which are deemed to be reaching the ‘end of their life’.

Mark Robinson, Scape Group Chief Executive, comments: “Wales needs to build hundreds of school classrooms in a short timeframe, and local authorities across the region continue to feel the strain. We must collectively focus on delivering a strategy and solutions which not only provide high-quality, modern spaces for teaching and learning but also offer our colleagues in local authorities cost certainty, value for money and timely delivery.

“The issue of school places delivery is likely to be exacerbated in the coming years if we do not think and act more creatively now. Good schools are the bedrock of our society, and there can be no room for error.

“With demand continuing to grow, it is vital that we focus on solutions that will allow us to create additional school places quickly and resourcefully, without compromising on quality. Offsite technology is one answer. Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) not only enable quick construction but can also cost local authorities significantly less. Until the government takes more pragmatic action, they cannot claim to be safeguarding the futures of young people.”

Scape Group’s recommendations on how to tackle the School Places Challenge

• The adoption of offsite construction as the main method of building for all new schools and extensions would ensure that they are built faster than traditional methods. If modular can grow in scale, building schools will become more efficient and cost-effective.

1. A fairer education funding model for local authorities, which ensures that they can work with central government to set budgets that reflect local need. In particular, local authorities should play a part in judging and approving free school proposals to make sure that new schools are established where they are most needed.
2. Greater collaboration between councils and developers to ensure that secondary schools are built in major urban extensions and developments first, through agreements between developers seeking planning permission and the local planning authority (Section 106 agreements).   

The full report, The School Places Challenge 2019, can be downloaded from scapegroup.co.uk/research.