School overcrowding: the 27 primary schools in Preston that are over capacity

According to data from the Department for Education (DfE), 27 primary schools in Preston were above full capacity as of May 1, 2022.

A school is classed as in excess of capacity when the number of pupils enrolled is greater than its number of places.

Across the county, 99 primary schools were over capacity, with 27 of these being in Preston. This is up by at least* eight from the last comparable year, 2020/2021, when there were 19 overcrowded primary schools across Preston (*some schools in South Ribble do feature in last year’s list.)

The most recent data means that in the year 2021-2022, 5420 pupils in Preston were affected by overcrowded schools.

The Department for Education said most state schools that exceeded their capacity were over by fewer than 10 pupils, with about 7% exceeding their capacity by 10 or more.

Jon Andrews, Education Policy Institute head of analysis, said the proportion of schools operating at over capacity is likely to fall in the coming years but warned the result of schools operating over capacity is additional demands on teaching staff and pupils being left without their preferred choice of school.Jon said: "With our research having revealed that pupils from more affluent backgrounds more frequently succeed via these routes of appeal, it’s likely that disadvantaged pupils will suffer to a greater extent from the effects of schools being over capacity.”

Here a list of all the schools from Preston that were above full capacity according to the most recent DfE figures: