It has been revealed that over half of the secondary schools in the United Kingdom are overcrowded.

 

A new study has found that numerous schools across the country have far too many students registered for Year 7.

 

The information, which was gathered from 100 councils in the UK, shows that 53 percent of schools are struggling with the number of students they have. This figure has increased significantly since 2015, where 44 percent of schools had issues with the number of students they had.

 

Out of the 100 councils, 91 shared the overall capacity of secondary schools for September of 2017. 48 of the councils supplied information about the number of students attending Year 7 as of this September.

 

The Local Government Association recently warned parents that at least 125,000 children were at risk of losing their place at school by 2022, due to the growing figures.

 

 

Layla Moran, who is the Liberal Democrat Shadow Education Secretary, revealed that Britain is heading towards a major crisis when it comes to school places.

 

She says, “Every parent should be able to send their child to a decent school in their local area.”

 

She believes the Government should invest £7 billion in improving the education system in the United Kingdom, and that every child deserves to attend their local secondary school.

 

The study found that Rutland had the biggest issue with overcrowding in the entire country. Secondary schools in that area were faced with an 86 percent risk of being overcapacity.

 

The other schools with an extensive number of students include Bury, Redcar, Slough, Solihull and Cleveland.

 

A shocking 40 percent of schools do not have enough floor space for the number of students attending.

 

 

Earlier this month news emerged that the education system is struggling to hire teaching staff.

 

Last year thousands of teachers retired before retirement age, according to the National Audit Office. Schools are finding it more difficult than ever before to find enough staff to replace the retirees.

 

The study revealed that nearly 35’000 teaching staff left their positions last year.

 

One of the main reasons behind this striking figure is the increase in teachers suffering from mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.

 

Many trained professionals shared that they often had panic attacks because of their job. It is understood that teachers are taking on more responsibilities and even more hours, some are even doing twelve-hour days.

 

These issues are one of the main causes behind the shortage of teaching staff in the United Kingdom.

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