Education One Strategic Plan 2024 to 2028

Coventry is the ninth largest city in England and the 12th largest in the United Kingdom, with a population of 360,700 as of the mid-year population estimates, making it the second largest Local Authority in the West Midlands.

According to the 2023 mid-year population estimates, just over one-fifth (22.3%) of the city’s population are children and young people aged under 18, 63.6% are of working-age (18 to 64), and the remaining 14.1% are aged 65 and over.

The breakdown of education provision within Coventry includes:

• 459 Early Years settings
• 85 Primary schools
• 1 all-through school
• 21 Secondary schools
• 8 Special schools
• 1 Pupil Referral Unit
• 2 Post-16 Colleges

4.1 Population context

The graph above shows the birth rate across Coventry, with 2021 to 2024 showcasing a gradual increase of the birth rate increasing slightly each year in comparison to the previous decline between 2010 and 2020. Given the transient nature of the city's population and the social mobility of its residents, updates to birth and GP registration data will occur quarterly through the NHS Foundation Trust.

The latest data gives us some key headlines:

• the birth cohort peaked for entry into Reception in September 2016
• the current Year 4 cohort (the cohort born between September 2015 and August 2016) is currently the largest cohort in Coventry Primary Schools and is set to transition to secondary school in September 2027. This will significantly affect the availability of places across the city. To address this challenge, strategic planning is underway
• the increase in ‘in-year’ applications (pupils applying for all other year groups or for newly arrived pupils to the city) over the last 3 years has caused many schools to reach full capacity. Some schools have been required to go over PAN to accommodate more students who require a place
• although this growth has had a larger impact in the primary sector it will impact on Secondary Schools when the pupils transfer to Year 7 education

Over the past 3 academic years, CCC has experienced significant increase in the number of pupils applying for a school place ‘in-year’. One of the key drivers being in-year migration from new arrivals to Coventry (from either overseas or other parts of the country).

The tables below shows this change beginning in 2020 to 2021 academic year:

The impact of in-year has significantly reduced the number of school places available in Coventry schools. This reduction in available places indicates that schools are reaching or exceeding their capacity to accommodate students, leading to potential challenges in meeting the educational needs of the local population.

To address this issue Education is actively ensuring adequate school places provision across the city by implementing temporary and permanent classes to create additional learning spaces without overburdening schools or compromising the quality of education.