Pupils face long commute as school is oversubscribed

Some pupils are forced to travel to their next town to go to school

Secondary school pupils may have to travel to a different town after the council said it was not planning to expand their local school.

The King Alfred School in Highbridge serves as the main secondary school for Burnham-on-Sea, Highbridge and neighbouring villages.

Somerset Council has confirmed the school is "oversubscribed" with a small number of pupils being instead allocated secondary places in Bridgwater – leading to long bus journeys five days a week.

A Somerset Council spokesperson said: "This is a single-year pressure and forecasts indicate the school's future entry groups will gradually reduce over the next four years."

Somerset Council leader Bill Revans added: "Secondary sufficiency does concern me – I know a number of Taunton parents were disappointed with the place allocation this year. We need to track the numbers going forward to ensure we have sufficient places."

During a meeting about the funding of a new primary school within the Wilstock Village development in Bridgwater, Phil Curd, the council's head of education places, said the new Haygrove School would be built with an expansion in mind, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Haygrove School in Bridgwater was partially shut in August 2023 due to safety concerns, with the Department for Education promising in December 2024 it would build a replacement school as soon as possible – most likely on nearby land at Queenswood Farm.

Bridgwater's Haygrove School has been partially closed since August 2023

Mr Curd added a school with primary and secondary teaching on the same site was planned as part of the Monkton Heathfield urban extension in Taunton – which is expected to be approved by councillors later in the spring.

The council subsequently confirmed it has no immediate plans to expand King Alfred School in light of pupil forecasts – but it would not state how much it would cost to transport these additional pupils to Bridgwater.

A council spokesperson said: "We've had 17 late applications from children within the King Alfred catchment. Six of these children would have secured a place at the school, had they applied before the deadline.

"This is a single-year pressure and forecasts indicate the school's future entry groups will gradually reduce over the next four years.

"It's possible these pupils will be able to use public transport to access school places in Bridgwater, but the details will need to be worked through and families have the right to appeal for a place at King Alfred."