Cabinet agreed on 12 October to consult on closing, merging or shrinking primary schools, with 1,520 places empty. No school is named; no start date yet.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council wants to ask parents, staff and governors how it should cut the number of empty places in its primary schools. Closing or merging schools is among the options it will put to them.
Cabinet is asked to approve the consultation on Monday 12 October. The report to Cabinet says no decision on any school has been made, and that councillors are being asked only to approve consulting.
Updated 14 October: Cabinet approved the consultation on 12 October. The start date, survey and meeting dates are still to be set by the Executive Director of People’s Services and the Deputy Leader. The decision can be called in until 3pm on Friday 16 October. No school has been named.
The numbers behind it
Primary pupil numbers in the borough have been falling for several years. The report gives the position at the October 2025 school census:
| October 2025 | |
|---|---|
| Primary places available, Reception to Year 6 | 9,721 |
| Pupils on roll | 8,201 |
| Unfilled places | 1,520 |
| Share of places empty | 15.6% |
It gets worse without action, according to the council’s borough-wide place planning summary. By 2028/29 the primary roll could be around 7,500. If the borough still had around 9,500 places, about 2,000 would be empty, a surplus of around 22%.
Removing five forms of entry would bring places down to around 8,450 and the surplus to around 11%. A form of entry is one class of 30 in each year group, so five forms across Reception to Year 6 is roughly 1,050 places.
The Department for Education expects councils to keep some spare places, so parents have a choice and children who move in mid-year can be placed. The report says the borough’s surplus is above the level normally needed for that.
Why empty places matter to a school
Schools are funded mostly per pupil. The report says that money is now “being spread across too many places”. That makes it harder for some schools to keep stable staffing, leadership, a broad curriculum and support for children with special educational needs.
There is a cost to the council too. It carries the risk if a council-maintained school closes with a deficit it cannot recover. It has no such liability for academies or free schools. The financial forecasts of the maintained schools in scope are in an appendix that is not being published.
The borough is not alone. The report cites London Councils figures that around 90 London schools closed or merged between 2019 and summer 2025 because of falling demand. It also cites a forecast 6.4% fall in demand for Reception places in Inner London between 2025/26 and 2029/30.
What the consultation will ask about
The draft consultation plan lists the options the council will put forward:
- managing schools as they are
- reducing a school’s published admission number, the number of children it takes each year
- federation or partnership between schools
- amalgamating schools
- closing schools
- change led by an academy trust
- other education or community use of school sites
- any other option that schools or consultees suggest
People will also be asked about the principles behind any decision. Those include protecting education quality, keeping reasonable access to a local school, supporting children with SEND and minimising disruption to families.
Which schools are affected
The council has not said. The school-level options appraisal is Appendix 4 to the report, and it is exempt from publication. Councillors will discuss it in private if they need to. The published papers name no school.
The report is frank about why. Its risk section warns that parents “may deduce the nature of any review and choose to move their children thereby precipitating a school closure”. It also flags a “high reputational risk” that people will treat the consultation as a decision already made. It recommends a plan to manage what it calls “the ‘rumour mill’”.
When things happen
The proposed timetable in the report is:
- 12 October 2026: Cabinet agreed to consult (call-in deadline 3pm, 16 October)
- Autumn 2026: the consultation runs
- Winter 2026 to 2027: responses are reviewed
- Early 2027: a further report on the outcome and next steps
Any closure, merger or change to a school’s intake would need another report and, where the law requires it, a formal statutory proposal with its own consultation. The exact start date of the consultation would be set by the Executive Director of People’s Services and the Deputy Leader, Cllr Alex Sanderson, if Cabinet agrees.
What it means for you
- Nothing changes at any school now. This is a decision to ask, not a decision to act.
- If you have a child at a primary school, expect a consultation document, a survey and meetings this autumn. The council says it will provide translated and accessible versions.
- If you are applying for a Reception place for September 2027, apply as normal. The report gives no date for any change to admissions.
- To watch the decision, Cabinet meets at 6.30pm on Monday 12 October at Scale Space, 58 Wood Lane, W12. The meeting page carries a link to the YouTube stream.
Our school term dates page has this year’s holidays. The council’s wider money position is in our report on its 2026/27 overspend forecast.
Sources
- H&F Cabinet report, Approval to consult on the School Organisation Plan and primary place sufficiency options, for the meeting on 12 October 2026.
- Appendix 1, Draft Consultation Plan.
- Appendix 3, Borough-wide place planning summary.
- Cabinet agenda, 12 October 2026, for the venue, time and exempt Appendix 4.
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