Portsmouth and Hampshire's primary school population is dropping
The number of pupils in primary schools has dropped in the last six years
The number of primary school pupils in parts of England has fallen by more than 10 per cent since the start of the decade, new analysis shows.
In this area, Portsmouth saw a 5.2 per cent drop, from 16,189 pupils in January 2020 to 15,348 in January this year. Hampshire saw a 4.3 per cent drop, from 106,423 pupils in 2020 to 101,882 this year. Southampton went from 20,464 to 18,754, an 8.4 per cent decrease.
The drop has been steepest in areas of London, where figures have tumbled by 19 per cent in Southwark, 20 per cent in Lambeth and 26 per cent in Westminster.
Some 138 out of 149 local authorities in England saw a decrease in state-funded primary school pupils between January 2020 and January 2026, according to Press Association analysis of new Department for Education (DfE) data.
Of the 11 areas that saw an increase, Havering on the outskirts of London recorded the largest rise, up 5%.
The drop in pupils is “primarily driven by demographic changes”, the DfE said.
Births in England have been on a steady downwards trend since peaking in 2012, meaning “lower numbers of pupils are moving into primary school age”.
Primary and secondary school populations are both projected to continue falling for the rest of the decade.
The total primary school population in England stood at 4.47 million in January this year, down from 4.71 million in January 2020.