YORK had almost a dozen full or overcrowded primary and secondary schools during the last academic year, new figures show.

And two schools have been revealed as the most overcapacity in the city.

Department for Education figures show 11 schools were at or overcapacity in York in the 2021-22 academic year.

Of them, nine were primary schools and two were secondary schools.

The figures show the most crowded primary school in York last year was St Paul's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School. The school had 189 students on roll and 167 places – meaning it was overcapacity by 13 per cent.

The most crowded secondary school in the area was All Saints RC School which had 1,396 pupils and 1,203 places last year, meaning it was overcapacity by 16 per cent.

Sharon Keelan-Beardsley, headteacher at All Saints, said: "All Saints is a popular and heavily oversubscribed school and we are delighted that so many young people want to be part of our community.

York Press: Almost a dozen schools in York were full or overcapacity last academic yearAlmost a dozen schools in York were full or overcapacity last academic year (Image: Newsquest)

"Our buildings are historically important and very beautiful, but they require significant investment.

"In December 2022 we were officially accepted onto the Department of Education’s Schools Rebuilding Programme and this will hopefully provide us with the funding we need to address the capacity issue.

"All Saints provides an excellent standard of education and pastoral care and we are delighted that future funding will allow us to enhance our offer even further."

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for St Paul's Primary said the school is consistently "one of the best performing primary schools in the City of York, achieving outstanding outcomes for all pupils".

The spokesperson said: "That and the unique character of our school building are some of the reasons why we have such success attracting families.

"The actual number of school places currently available at St Paul’s Primary School, which is set in conjunction with City of York Council, is 196. Since the DfE data was collected in January 2022 places have become available and we currently have less than that number of pupils on roll.

"Our families love the building and we would welcome the ability to expand it so more can enjoy it. We'd encourage prospective families to contact the school to see the great things we do in the building for themselves.

"The net capacity figure referred to is a simple standardised DfE formula and not a proper assessment of how many pupils can reasonably be accommodated at the school. In our case that later number is significantly above the 167 figure referenced."

City of York Council said it works with maintained schools and academies across the city to project expected pupil numbers over forthcoming years and ensure provision is in place to meet the expected demand, taking in to account a range of factors including new housing developments and school trends.

A spokesperson for the council said: "A national tool is used to assess the number of pupils each school can take based on its size, but schools may choose to admit children over their net capacity figure, depending on their individual circumstances.”

Across England, 17 per cent of primary schools were full or over capacity while 23 per cent of secondary schools, including sixth forms, were at or above capacity last year.

The Department for Education said most state schools that exceeded their capacity were over by fewer than 10 pupils. About seven per cent of schools exceeded their capacity by 10 or more students.

A Department for Education spokesperson said it has created almost 1.2 million school places since 2010 and added many more are "in the pipeline".

The spokesperson said: “The vast majority of schools listed as overcapacity are either at or just over recorded capacity - and we work closely with local authorities to make sure they offer a school place to every child in country.”