Facts on School places

825,000 more English school places since 2010

There are around 825,000 more places in primary and secondary schools in England since 2010.

Ofsted hasn’t inspected 300 schools for a decade or more

These schools were last rated as outstanding, so Ofsted doesn’t have to inspect them every five years.

Academies and maintained schools: what do we know?

A look at the evidence on how academies perform compared to local authority schools.

Primary class sizes in England and Wales

The number of infants in classes of 31 or more in Wales has increased by 18% since 2013. In England it has increased by 32% over the same time.

1.8m more pupils in good or outstanding schools

Schools’ Ofsted performance is improving and more pupils are in schools rated good or outstanding by its inspectors.

Class sizes under the Conservatives

Average class sizes in English primary schools are up since 2010, although secondary school classes are very slightly smaller.

Are there enough school places being created?

We took a look at claims from Prime Minister’s Questions about the need for new school places, what’s happening to per pupil spending and the level of need in the areas where free schools have opened.

Most, but not all, free schools help meet demand for school places

In areas that already have enough places, free schools haven’t been running long enough to say whether they push standards up or down.

School spending: up or down?

As teachers walk out, we investigate whether the schools budget is being cut or not.

What's happening to secondary school places?

Concerns have been raised about the ability of local authorities to cope with a predicted 20% rise in secondary pupil numbers over the next decade.