Lambeth school announces closure amid falling numbers

As many as 400 pupils at the 324-year-old school could be affected by the announcement

A 324-year-old school in south London is to close because falling pupil numbers mean it is no longer "viable".

St Martin-in-the-Fields High School for Girls, in Tulse Hill, Lambeth, made the announcement in an email to parents.

It is understood almost 400 pupils and more than 50 staff currently work and study at the school.

Lambeth Council said it would "support all local schools to minimise the disruption and impact on students and their families".

In a written statement on Friday, headteacher Josephine Okokon said the school will close to Years 7, 8 and 9 in August.

She added the school will then close completely next summer, after older pupils have finished their exams.

'No longer viable'

"There has been a significant decline in the number of young people living and going to school in Lambeth, meaning that we, along with other local schools, have seen our student numbers diminish in recent years," she explained.

"The number of pupils in Lambeth is not expected to increase for approximately eight years.

"Since funding for schools is awarded based on its pupil numbers, it is no longer viable for St Martin's to continue operating as a school and deliver the level of education that our young people deserve; the substantive decision has therefore been made to begin the process of closure."

The letter added that among those impacted by the changes would be Year 11 students expecting to progress to the sixth form in September.

Ms Okokon said that while the leadership team "wholly appreciate that this news will cause concern for many", the timing of the announcement "was outside our control".

Wider schools crisis

It follows a closure announcement by another school in the borough, Archbishop Tenison's School in Vauxhall, in April.

Multiple schools have been designated as being at risk of closure amid a 17% decrease in London's birth rate between 2012 and 2021, according to data from London Councils.

Deputy leader of Lambeth Council's Liberal Democrat group, Councillor Matthew Bryant, said: "Our first concern is for the pupils facing disruption at such short notice.

"Changing teachers, friendship groups, and travel arrangements will be deeply unsettling for many young people."

Councillor Bryant added: "For this academic year, the Conservative government recklessly slashed school funding by £222 per pupil in Lambeth.

"Backwards funding formulas and a housing crisis that pushes parents out of London means our children and young people are left to bear the brunt of the government's incompetence. We've lost two schools in one month. It simply can't continue like this."

Councillor Ben Kind, Lambeth Council's Member for Children and Young People said: "Parents are rightly very concerned about the pressures on the entire education system across London that are a result of an unfair national funding system, our declining birth rate, the impacts of Brexit and the ongoing housing crisis.

"This school is not part of our local authority network being an academy school which means decisions on its future our outside our control."

He added that representatives from Lambeth Council would be meeting meeting parents at the school to support them, as well as families seeking single-sex faith school places.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: "Next year, school funding will be at its highest level in history in real terms as measured by the IFS, following the additional £2bn of investment for both 2023-24 and 2024-25 in the autumn statement.

"It is for local authorities and academy trusts to balance the supply and demand of school places, in line with changing demographics, as they have done for many years."

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