By Lauren Monaghan, Junior Local Democracy Reporter
A Nottinghamshire council is confident it will bridge a projected gap in school places across West Bridgford by 2030 – and even believes there could be a surplus of places in schools.
Nottinghamshire County Council data initially suggested there could be a deficit of 949 secondary pupil places in the town around 2029 and 2030 in the West Bridgford planning area.
Works are underway at three schools to address the pupil place shortage, with the aim of reducing the deficit to between 400 and 450.
At Rushcliffe Spencer Academy, a nearly-finished project will provide 450 more places across year seven to year 11 – 90 of these for year seven pupils.
Two East Midlands Education Trust (EMET) schools in West Bridgford are also undergoing plans to provide additional spaces.
A further 200 would be provided at South Wolds and 240 at West Bridgford School.
In a statement, the incoming council leader Cllr Sam Smith (Con), who’s currently the council’s cabinet member for education and special educational needs, said: “The county council continually monitors school place projections and sufficiency.
“We are working in close partnership with the multi-academy trusts and schools in the West Bridgford area as well as across the Rushcliffe borough to meet current and future demand for school places.”
EMET will be given nearly £64,000 for survey works to assess how West Bridgford School could be expanded, with £10,000 being given to the authority’s contractor ARC Partnership to review the works.
Cllr Smith says proposals to expand schools in West Bridgford will fill the gap in pupil places by 2030 – even predicting a surplus.
Cllr Smith added: “The council will continue to review the need for places and the progress of all projects, and if all current projects are fully developed, they should result in a situation that by 2030 there will be a projected surplus of 100 plus places in the area.”
Since 2013, 2,355 additional mainstream school places in Rushcliffe have been provided across primary and secondary schools.
Cllr Jonathan Wheeler (Con), who represents West Bridgford on the authority, said he’s also “confident” any deficit will be closed by 2030.
He said: “I really welcome the investment the council has made and the planned investment into West Bridgford School.
“I know how important it is for families to know they have a school place for their children and the council has put in measures to ensure that there is the needed school places for every child in Rushcliffe.”
The council added it’s also monitoring the impact of the Government’s decision to add VAT onto private school fees – and whether further places may be needed as a result of this move.
