Have luxury flats shut a school in north London?

250 pupils have vanished from a Hackney school’s register. Is London's low birth rate really to blame?

A view of the Woodberry Down development in 2016. Photo credit: Pat Tuson

Morning — it’s been a weird few years for some London parents. They’ve watched on as, one by one, their child’s classmates have stopped turning up to school. Til one day, they realise — half of the school is now empty.

And when the council announces the school’s closure, the parents are told it’s because of big demographic forces, like the capital’s low birth rate. But, in one pocket of north London, parents think there’s another reason: the decision to give land to a developer out for a profit.

Today we bring you a Spy investigation into the Hackney schools crisis. This year will be the second in a row in which primary schools have been marked for closure by the borough council, following years of falling pupil numbers. We've been speaking to parents, teachers and union reps to figure out how things have spiralled this far. We’ve heard a lot of heartbreak, as people face the prospect of losing their school’s community, as well as concern for how pupils will handle the transition.

But there's also a lot of anger, particularly at one school, which lies in the shadow of one of Europe's biggest estate regeneration projects.

How luxury flats may have shut a school in north London is below.

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Demographics, or greed gone wrong: Inside the Hackney schools crisis

By the Spy team

“Families aren’t moving out of Hackney. They’re being pushed out.” This was the contribution that got the biggest applause at a recent meeting of teachers and parents fighting school closures in north east London. It was made by a parent with children attending St Dominic’s, a Catholic primary school in Homerton that the council is potentially closing next year.

The parent continued, to more applause: “We don't want to leave. They're pushing people out. And for the people that are still here, they've decided to close our school that we love.”

In October, Hackney council announced a fresh wave of primary school closures — its second cull in two years. Four schools could shut in August 2025 under the plans, meaning 699 pupils would have to find places in classrooms elsewhere. 104 members of school staff would face redundancy. It comes after the closure of two primary schools and the merger of two others in August of this year — despite a campaign with the support of children's author Michael Rosen.

Falling pupil numbers, and the cost of funding emptying schools, are behind the council's decision. On paper, Hackney's schools have room for 2,800 pupils. In practice, only 2,200 places were taken up in May 2024.

As to why pupil numbers are falling, the council has blamed multiple big picture problems. Lower birth rates, capped housing benefits, the housing crisis, the cost of living, Brexit and the pandemic are all cited by Hackney's school estate strategy. “This problem is not just a Hackney issue,” said cllr Anntoinette Bramble, the council's cabinet member for education, on October 8 as she announced the public consultation on the school closures.

But parents and teachers say Hackney council is avoiding another explanation: you reap what you sow. Rather than big demographic factors beyond the council's control, they say the children have gone because Hackney's leadership have made the wrong calls about housing in the borough. Rather than affordable homes for families, Hackney has pursued expensive flats for investors and DINKYs — couples with Double Incomes and No Kids Yet.

Their case in point: the 250 pupils who've vanished from the registers of a school near a major redevelopment of council flats.