Plans are being put in place to ensure Lincolnshire secondary schools are able to cope with a spike in pupil numbers.
Over the past three years Lincolnshire County Council has invested £34million in new primary schools and expanding existing ones to provide an extra 3,000 places.
These include the new Wygate Park Academy in Spalding, as well as expansion at Monkshouse and Pinchbeck East Primary Schools.
Another £20million will be spent in the next two years to add a further 2,000 places to ensure places are available close to where children live.
It is expected that the number of five-year-olds in the county will have grown by 14 per cent in the five years to 2017.
By 2017, as those children get older, the demand for school places will move to secondary schools.
Coun Patricia Bradwell, executive councillor for children’s services, said: “We are already planning for that.
“Due to the limited money available to the council, it’s important to plan carefully for the future – including providing for late or mid-year applications.
“To do so, we use all kinds of information, such as figures on births, migration and new housing, which indicate what extra places will be needed.
“We can then plan new schools and expansions in advance, and invest our limited capital as effectively as possible.
“Without extra places, all schools in some areas would be full, with no spare capacity at the start of term.
“Children would then have to travel outside their communities to get to the nearest school, which is obviously something we try to avoid.”
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