MORE than 3,500 new school places will be created in Surrey in the next academic year to meet increasing demand, Surrey County Council has announced.
The massive expansion plan, the equivalent of building nine new two-form entry primary schools, will see 20 schools in the county expanded to create the extra spaces in time for the start of the 2015 school year.
Last week Surrey County Council's cabinet member for school's, Linda Kemeny, announced three schools – Stamford Green Primary, West Byfleet Infant and Junior, and Ashford Primary School – would each be taking on 210 new pupils.
Others across Surrey will also need to expand, though the council hasn't said which ones will be affected yet.
The scheme is believed to be the biggest school investment project in Surrey's history with nearly £330 million being invested to create 20,000 extra places by 2019 – including 3,800 by next summer.
About 6,600 places have already been created in the last two years.
Councillor Kemeny told the council's cabinet: "We're in the middle of the biggest investment programme in Surrey's history and we're investing more than £300 million to meet rising demands for school places."
She added the council hoped the Government would be providing extra money at some point in the future to help fund local authority efforts to meet demands from schools. The project has come as a response to the rising birth rate in boroughs and districts, which has put unprecedented demand on school places.
According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, births in Reigate and Banstead have increased significantly since 2001 after years of decline. Births per year have increased by 391 in the past 13 years, up 28 per cent.
Reigate, Redhill, Merstham, Earlswood and Salfords are expected to experience the highest pressure for places.
Cllr Kemeny added: "By next September, extra classroom places will have been created for 10,400 schoolchildren in just three academic years and we'll continue to make plans for the rest to ensure every child gets the best possible start in life."
