London Evening Standard/London

London primary schools are full to bursting point, councils warned yesterday.

Figures show schools need an extra 50,000 places to cope with an unprecedented surge in demand — and that could cost up to £1.5bn.

A report says the sheer scale of London’s problems is unique. It blames the crisis on a rising birth rate, sluggish housing market with fewer families moving out of the city, and more parents choosing state education instead of paying fees because of the recession.

Parents in most boroughs are applying now for children to start at primary school next September.

But many will be disappointed as schools which have “run out of places” turn thousands away.

A major survey warned that the “extremely severe” shortage across large areas of the city will get worse every year until 2018.

The report says: “There are now some very large geographical areas with absolutely no capacity, particularly for reception class children.”

Nicholas Stanton, schools spokesman for the London Councils lobby group, said: “There is a crisis this year.”

The London Councils’ investigation found the worst-hit boroughs are Brent, Barnet, Enfield, Waltham Forest, Newham, Redbridge, Barking and Dagenham, Southwark, Lambeth, Croydon, Richmond and Kingston, which each need more than 2,000 extra places over the next three years.

At least £880mn - and as much as £1.5bn - will be required to create permanent new classes for 50,710 extra pupils by 2017-18.

The report said: “Severe capacity problems in geographical hotspots (often across a number of boroughs) means that they are now being forced to contemplate some tough decisions about where to place children in order to comply with their duty to provide primary school places.”

The government has promised £200mn for councils across England. Stanton, leader of Southwark council, called on ministers to provide emergency funding for London, adding: “We are going to run the risk of kids being educated in facilities you wouldn’t normally choose. No one wants schools to put portable cabins on playing fields or school playgrounds.”

Primary schools in two-thirds of London boroughs are full - 20 out of 32 London boroughs are already short of primary school places for this year and next. Nine out of 10 boroughs are predicting they will suffer a shortage of places over the next seven years.

Analysts believe that the government’s plans for all pupils to start school aged four, rather than five, will make the situation worse. A spokesman for the department for children, schools and families, said: “Some local authorities are facing exceptional, unanticipated rises in demand for reception-age pupils, others simply did not plan or budget effectively for rising birth rates.

“The rise in demand for reception-age places is an issue far beyond the capital but we acknowledge the issues this report sets out.”