A Nottinghamshire County Councillor has today said that speculation over Gedling borough facing a shortage of secondary school places in the future is ‘complete nonsense’.
Councillor Philip Owen today said he was delighted that each pupil who had applied for a secondary school place on time would have a place at a local school this September.
Cllr Owen said: “I am delighted that every parent who applied on time for a school place in the Carlton Academy and Carlton Le Willows catchment areas will have a school place for their child this September.
“The county council is responsible for ensuring a sufficiency of school places across the county. We identified a need for additional school places and acted quickly in this area with £2.6m basic need funding being allocated to increase the number of school places at the two schools.
“We’re currently working with the Redhill Trust to provide 300 additional secondary school places at Carlton Academy which will be available for September 2020. We’re also working closely with the Carlton Le Willows Trust and are currently at feasibility stage with a plan to increase the school capacity by an additional 450 places.”
Cllr Owen dismissed claims from people in the local community that the borough will have a shortfall in secondary school places.
He said: “I must stress once again that comments that there is a shortage of places is complete nonsense.
“There is no shortage and we have a clear plan in place for the future.”
A public meeting was held back in the summer of 2019, with parents voicing concerns that around 700 pupils could be without a place at a local secondary school by 2027
Nottinghamshire County Council reported that this year almost 91% of Nottinghamshire children secured their first preference with nearly 97% securing one of their four preferred secondary schools.
