Education officials have drawn up plans to reduce the number of places available at five primary schools in Hertfordshire.
From September 2026, officials at the county council are looking at plans to reduce the number of places available to new pupils at St Mary’s CE Infant School, Baldock, from 60 to 30.
And they have drawn up plans that would reduce the number of Reception places available at Bernards Heath Infant School, in St Albans, from 90 to 60.
At Roundwood Primary School, in Harpenden, and Wheatcroft Primary School, in Hertford, the number of places available would be cut from 45 to 30.
As a result of the plans, Windermere Primary School, in St Albans, could see the number of places for their youngest children reduced from 30 to just 15.
The proposals were outlined to a meeting of the county council’s education, libraries, and lifelong learning cabinet panel on Wednesday (Sept 11).
At a future meeting, the council’s cabinet will be asked to back plans for the proposals to be put out for public consultation.
According to the report, the county experienced a “significant” rise in demand for Reception places between 2008 and 2018 – with around 17,000 more places having been created since 2010.
But it says numbers have since fallen – with a smaller number of children now seeking Reception places.
Education officials say they expect that trend to continue – although the scale and impact are expected to be different in different areas of the county.
Presenting the proposals, the council’s deputy head of admissions, Jayne Abery, said the proposed reductions were in line with previous reductions that had been agreed upon by the county council.
She pointed to the decreasing birth rate in Hertfordshire and across the country, “leading to less demand.”
She said schools sometimes needed to reduce their intake to ensure they could “keep on a sound financial and organisational basis.”
According to the report presented to councillors on Wednesday, St Mary’s CE Infant School, in Baldock, has not filled all 60 of its Reception places “in recent years.”
Reducing the number of new places available to 30, says the report, would better match expected demand.
It would, it says, protect the financial viability of the school moving forward.
Forecasts indicate there would still be sufficient Reception places available in the local area.
Bernards Heath Infant School, in St Albans, is reported to have seen a “drop” in applications and allocations “over the past couple of years,” with numbers forecast to fall further going forward.
According to the report, there is expected to be lower demand for Reception places across St Albans, with forecasts suggesting that by 2025 there will be between 78 and 120 surplus places in the area.
A reduction in the number of places available for the youngest pupils at Bernards Heath would, says the report, “work towards creating a better match of places to expected demand.”
However, it also suggests there would still be “sufficient” places available across the area.
It suggests that even if the number of places were to be reduced, families applying for a place at the school would still obtain one.
Elsewhere in St Albans, the plan includes a proposal to reduce the number of new admissions to Windermere Primary School – from 30 to 15.
According to the report, there has been a reduction in the number of applications and allocations at the school – with some places left unfilled.
That is said to have resulted in “challenging class organisation” due to infant class legislation, tight budgets, and potential deficits moving forward.
The report suggests the reduction in new places would create a better match to expected demand while leaving enough places available locally.
However, it does say that should there be an unexpected “spike in demand” moving forward, the school would be happy to discuss a “bulge class” for local children.
Roundwood Primary – where proposals have also been drawn up to reduce new admissions from 45 to 30 – has been over-subscribed in the past.
But in the last couple of years, according to the report, there has been a drop in the number of applications and allocations to the school – with forecasts pointing to lower demand for Reception places in Harpenden moving forward.
The report states the reduction would create a better match of places to expected demand.
Meanwhile, the proposals also point to a “recent” drop in the number of applications and allocations at Wheatcroft Primary School, in Hertford.
They suggest a drop in the number of new admissions – from 45 to 30 – would “assist the school both organisationally and financially.”
Should the next steps be backed by a meeting of the council’s cabinet on Wednesday (September 18), a six-week period of public consultation is expected to begin at the end of October.
The results of that consultation would be reported back to councillors in February 2025.
Deborah is a Local Democracy Reporter covering news across Hertfordshire, with a strong focus on councils, local government and public policy. Her reporting includes county council decisions, council tax, spending pressures, legal and regulatory issues, healthcare stories including junior doctors, and community projects affecting local residents.
