School capacity in England: academic year 2021-22

Statistics

on state-funded school places in England, as collected in the 2022 School Capacity Survey

Net change in number of school places since 2010

1,161,976

Increase of 720,770 primary and 441,206 secondary places

Net change in number of school places since previous school capacity (SCAP) survey

46,654

Increase of 5,186 primary and 41,468 secondary places

Primary

17% schools at or over capacity

Down from a high of 23% in 2016/17 and the same as 2020/21

Secondary

23% schools at or over capacity

Up from a low of 14% in 2015/16 and slightly higher than 22% in 2020/21

● There were almost nine million statefunded school places reported in 2021/22 - just under five million primary places and four million secondary places.

● The rate of primary places being added has slowed dramatically, due to the reduction in birth rates between 2012 and 2020. However, the rate of secondary places being added has continued at a steady pace, as the peak in school age population moves into the secondary phase.

● Around 18% of state-funded schools were at, or in excess of, capacity in 2021-22, a similar proportion to 2020-21 and lower than in previous years. The majority of these exceeded their capacity by fewer than 10 pupils, with around 7% of schools exceeding their capacity by 10 or more pupils.