Haringey Council is considering reducing school admission numbers in response to declining demand for places. The decision was made at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, 11 November 2025, where members agreed to launch a consultation on the proposed changes for the 2027/28 academic year.

The consultation will focus on reducing the Published Admission Numbers (PANs) at selected primary and secondary schools across the borough. This move comes as Haringey, like many London authorities, faces a decrease in demand for reception school places. Haringey has been experiencing a decrease in demand for reception school places for several years.

Several factors have contributed to this decline, including falling birth rates, changes to welfare benefits, the housing crisis, increases in the cost of living, Brexit, and families leaving London during the Covid-19 pandemic. The council aims to build a fairer and greener borough, and is working to address the housing crisis in London, which has resulted in more local residents being unable to afford rent, with home ownership becoming increasingly unattainable. To help address this issue, and with financial support from both the Mayor of London and the government, the Council aimed to build thousands of new council homes let at council rents. It also acquired homes from private developments and converted them into council homes.

Chart showing the number of new applicants owed a full housing duty by year and reason.
Chart showing the number of new applicants owed a full housing duty by year and reason.

From 2026, Year 7 capacity will reduce to 2,544 places, reflecting permanent reductions at Heartlands High School (from 240 to 210 in 2025), and planned reductions at Hornsey School for Girls and Park View School in 2026, to 135 and 189 places respectively, according to the Cabinet Report.

Additionally, several secondary schools are adjusting their PANs to reflect changes in class size models, reducing PANs to move from 27 to 30 pupils per class. This adjustment supports schools in achieving greater operational and financial efficiency through more flexible staffing and improved resource deployment. While this adjustment aims to improve efficiency, the specific impact on the student-teacher ratio is not detailed in the Cabinet Report.

The consultation will gather stakeholder views on these proposals, with a final decision to be presented to Cabinet in February 2026.