The most popular Bolton secondary school and primary school have been named, based on the number of pupils which attend there.

Essa Academy in Great Lever and Walmsley CE Primary School in Egerton are the two most oversubscribed schools in Bolton.

Essa Academy is an Ofsted rated good school and Walmsley CE Primary is an Ofsted rated outstanding school.

Walmsley CE Primary School had 357 students on roll for 330 places – meaning it was over capacity by eight per cent  last year.

And Essa Academy had 1,058 pupils with 990 places last year - it was over capacity by seven per cent.

Figures show that Bolton has dozens of full or overcrowded primary and secondary schools, new figures show.

A school is at or in excess of capacity when the number of pupils enrolled is greater than or equal to its number of places.

Department for Education figures show 33 schools were at or over capacity in Bolton in the 2021-22 academic year.

Of them, 30 were primary schools and three were secondary schools.

Across England, 17 per cent of primary schools were full or over capacity while 23 per cent of secondary schools, including sixth forms, were at or above capacity last year.

The Department for Education said most state schools that exceeded their capacity were over by fewer than 10 pupils.

About seven per cent of schools exceeded their capacity by 10 or more students.

A spokesperson for Bolton Council said: “Demand for school places fluctuates year on year, with some years seeing higher demand than others.

“The council has done a lot of work to increase both the number and variety of places on offer, by adding new schools and expanding capacity in existing secondaries.

“We continue to work with schools to make sure we have sufficient places for the future.”

Bolton Council said there are enough places in the borough for children, with some schools also under capacity.

However, some schools are proving to be more popular which sees the demand and over capacity at multiple schools.

Geoff Barton, Association of School and College Leaders general secretary, said arrangements are put in place to accommodate pupils where a school is over-subscribed.

Mr Barton said: "The bigger issue is that this situation is often driven by Ofsted judgements rather than a shortage of school places in the system as a whole because many parents apply for schools with ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ ratings.

"It drives up property prices in certain areas and stigmatises schools in other areas."

He said the system "desperately" needs to be reviewed and added struggling schools need more support.

A Department for Education spokesperson said it has created almost 1.2 million school places since 2010 and added many more are "in the pipeline".

They said: “The vast majority of schools listed as overcapacity are either at or just over recorded capacity, and we work closely with local authorities to make sure they offer a school place to every child in country.”

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