Langdale Free School in Blackpool to shut down despite 'good' Offsted rating

Bosses have blamed a lack of student numbers

A free primary school in Blackpool is set to close its doors at the end of the summer term with low pupil numbers and the size of the building being blamed by bosses.

Principal Linda Hiller confirmed the news today that Langdale free school will shut down at the end of the 2022-23 year with all staff and parents being informed of the decision, all of its pupils will be placed at alternative schools.

The school had previously hit headlines when, in an inspection by OFSTED, it was told to "take urgent action" to resolve financial management failings, including a deficit of £226,000 larger than had been budgeted for, and a controversy surrounding staff members being sent to Ibiza for a meeting. A review by an Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) at the time raised "serious concerns" about the long-term viability of the school.

The school has seen improvements with it achieving a 'Good' rating but has stayed unviable with it now planning to close. Ms Hiller said; "The viability of the school has become increasingly challenging in recent years, due to a number of combined factors. We have a relatively small number of pupils at the school; our site is small and we cannot expand; and there is a surplus of school places at primary level in Blackpool which means there are not enough pupils to fill all the primary schools in the town.

“While the Board and school leaders have worked extremely hard to overcome these issues and have explored every avenue, we are very sad to say today that the Secretary of State for Education has made a substantive decision that the school should close at the end of this term. This is of course a huge disappointment."

A month-long process will now start, giving the opportunity for interested parties to provide their views and receive further information. The school will then consider those views at the end of the period and set them out for the secretary of state, with the final decision of the school's closure resting with them.

Ms Hillier has said that it is expected that after the process the school will close, She said: “We have written to and spoken with parents and staff to let them know this news. We know that this will be an extremely worrying time for them. For parents, we have explained the process by which their child would attend a new school from September. We, the Department for Education and Blackpool Local Authority are all working together on this and minimising the impact on our pupils and their families is of paramount importance.

"For staff, who have always given such great and committed service to the children, we have explained what closure means for them and are supporting them fully. I would like to put on record my sincere thanks for all their incredibly hard and excellent work for the school.”