Planning education provision

The purpose of Planning Education Provision is to plan for and understand the future need for school places in Bradford which meet the needs of the children and young people within the District.

What is Planning Education Provision?

The Council has to ensure that:

• sufficient childcare is available which offers the early years free entitlement
• sufficient high-quality, maintained school provision is available to meet the needs of all Bradford District children aged 5-16
• sufficient high-quality, maintained school or college provision is available to meet the needs of all Bradford District young people aged 16-18
• at all ages, priority is given to meeting appropriately the needs of all children with special educational needs, learning difficulties and/or disabilities; and that
• all maintained nurseries, schools and colleges are able to function as high-quality, viable and financially efficient institutions.

How we plan for the future provision of education places?

When we plan education places we analyse a range of data and make forecasts of future demand for places. You can use this web page to go to pages that contain useful information about how we make forecasts and the data we use.

Data

You can find information on the numbers of pupils in all Bradford Schools on the Department for Education's 'Get Information About Schools' website. This is historical data, so it also includes information for schools that are now closed.

How do I access education places?

• Childcare and Early Years
• School Admissions

Who provides it?

The Sufficiency Team, within the Intelligence and Sufficiency Service, is responsible for reviewing and planning for educational places across the district.

How do they help?

Bradford Council has a statutory duty to ensure there are sufficient education places in the District to meet the present and future demand. The School Organisation Plan (located at the foot of the page) provides information on:

• the current pattern of educational provision across the District
• forecasts of pupil numbers in future years
• information on government regulations, guidance and policies concerned with these issues
• Bradford Council policy and strategy with respect to school organisation in the District

There has been a minor amendment to the School Organisation Plan 2023 in February 2024.