Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust is not the only MAT to complain about falling pupil numbers in schools affected by RAAC.
Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust is not the only MAT to complain about falling numbers in RAAC-affected schools.
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One of England's hardest-hit RAAC schools has launched a bid to secure more government cash, fearing it could lose £2m after admissions fell by a third.
Nick Hurn, chief executive of Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust, believes the current downturn, driven by the fragile concrete crisis, shows that the impact of the crisis will “last for years”.
Meanwhile, leaders of a Norfolk prep school are gathering “evidence” to submit to the Department for Education after seeing numbers fall due to RAAC.
Emma Harrison, business leadership expert at the Association of School and College Leaders, said some of these problems could have been avoided if ministers had tried to tackle problems with RAAC “before it reached crisis point”.
“Schools affected by RAAC have members reporting a decline in applications for September entry, and mid-year student transfers to nearby schools have also been reported.
“This will obviously have a significant impact and there needs to be a financial safeguard in place for schools that see a decline in student numbers as a result of the RAAC.”
St Leonard's Secondary School will welcome 168 children into its Year 7 cohort in September, a whopping slump compared to the school's current intake of 232 students.
According to estimates shared by Bishop Wilkinson, the shortfall could equate to a loss of £2 million by the time children complete their sixth form studies.
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Hurn confirmed a request had been submitted to the DfE to ensure the school received the same level of funding as last year. “For the past 10 years, all grade levels have been full and oversubscribed,” he noted.
“We had to apply in October, so everything we've put in place since has had no impact on the numbers. Without RAAC, we would have been full again.”
'Can you finance this?'
Meanwhile, Oliver Burwood, who runs the Norwich Education Academies Trust, said specific issues appeared to have contributed to the decline in pupil numbers at Thomas Bullock School in Thetford.
He described the school as “improving”. “It's not a declining district like some schools. The only difference is the RAAC.”
“We are trying to gather as much evidence as we can to get to the bottom of it,” Burwood said. [at DfE] To say, “Can you fund this?”
Bradford Diocese Academy Trust reported lower than expected intakes at one of the two schools affected by RAAC.
Christ Church CofE Academy's intake has fallen “dramatically” from 27 in the 2022-23 academic year to just 16 next year.
“We are seeing parents choosing to send their children to schools that do not have a RAAC,” said CEO Carol Dewhurst.
Despite these facts, Dewhurst argued there were some “hidden positives”, including extensive renovations to the building and additional investment in IT equipment.
Harrison added: “The impact of the RAAC crisis will be long-lasting and will result in financial losses for schools for years to come. We need support throughout this process.”
The DfE said it was misleading to say the low numbers of pupils in the three schools were representative of the experience of all affected settings. Other RAAC schools we contacted also said they had not seen a decline in students.
The DfE emphasized that the government has identified funding to remove RAACs from schools and colleges for good, either through grants or a school regeneration program.