How we plan for school places

School place planning remains a city-wide strategy in Birmingham and our forecasting reflects the range of factors that influence the demand for school places:

• Birth rates
• Numbers on roll
• Uptake rates
• Pupil movement across, into, and out of the city
• In-year growth and migration rates
• Housing growth
• Parental preference

Demand for school places is subject to ongoing change. Changing levels of supply (for example additional places or new schools) also mean that we have to consider carefully when and where to add or remove places. Supply and demand is considered at both city wide and local (planning) area level.

We constantly review and update our School Place Planning forecasting methodology, making continual improvements and reliability checks. We are subject to an ongoing review of our place planning processes and methodology by the Department for Education.

We have recently held a surplus places webinar (November 2022) with primary settings to look at the implications of surplus places as a result of recent declines in birth rates.

View recordings and presentations from school webinars

For more information on how we plan for school places, email Birmingham City Council’s Education Infrastructure team at edsi.enquiries@birmingham.gov.uk