A MASTERPLAN which includes new schools has been agreed in Middlesbrough a year on from a crisis over a shortage of places.

More than 100 year 6 pupils faced being without a place at the town’s secondary schools last year due to “unprecedented demand”.

Spaces were found in time but now a review has been drawn up in a bid to stop similar problems cropping up again. 

A new Middlehaven-based school for students aged 11 to 16 – Outwood Academy Riverside – is due to open in September to help meet the demand.

Plans are also afoot to provide a new primary school in Brookfield to meet extra demand from new housing.

However, Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston has indicated the wider Stainsby Masterplan lining up 1,670 new homes is now under review.

Cllr Christine Hobson told Tuesday’s executive the council was now “in a good place” when it came to school places (January 21). 

She added: “We’ve got the new school opening up so we’re not in the place where we were last year and the figures show we’re in a good place and where we should be.”

Birth rates have been falling in Middlesbrough for a number of years but the school age population continues to grow.

Councils have a statutory duty to ensure there are enough school places in the borough for its youngsters. 

But many academies are now run outside local authority control – meaning council are reliant on schools and academy trusts co-operating with them on places as demographics change. 

Secondary school numbers are forecast to rise by 325 pupils per year in Middlesbrough up to 2025/26 – peaking at approximately 10,500 youngsters in September 2025. 

The strategy report added: “It is expected that demand will remain much higher than has been experienced in recent years – meaning that the pressure will be long-term.”

Last week, Cllr Barrie Cooper told a council panel he was “reasonably confident” there’d be enough spaces for pupils in September.

The executive member for children’s services added: “We will have greater confidence about the level of demand by the end of February 2020 as this is when school place data is exchanged between all the local authorities.

“This will allow us to see expected demand for places from children who live outside of Middlesbrough.”

This new strategy has drawn up several priorities for the coming five years in Middlesbrough – including expanding schools to provide 151 extra primary places in the borough and monitoring levels on international new arrivals in the town centre. 

New housing developments in the South and West of Middlesbrough are also being watched to see how they’ll affect numbers in primary schools.