Plunging pupil numbers could give the government’s ailing academy drive an unexpected boost, experts say, after two primaries unveiled plans to join a MAT as rolls continue to fall.
Primaries have been struggling to fill reception classrooms in the wake of a birth-rate dip of 13 per cent since 2015.
Brighton and Hove council chiefs greenlit proposals in January to slash more than 90 spaces across three maintained schools in the next academic year.
But Benfield Primary and Hangleton Primary, both in the authority area, have now launched a bid to join EKO Trust, saying falling rolls on the coast means “the capacity to maintain and develop staff is reducing as the schools shrink”.
