DESPITE the opening Bradford Forster Academy, Bradford Council still forecasts there will be a shortfall in school places in the coming years.

Projected figures from the authority suggest there will be a shortfall of 504 places across the district for pupils starting at secondary school entry level in year seven in 2019. Those figures take into account the 1,050 places at Forster Academy.

In the Bradford South area that the academy will fall under, Council experts forecast a shortfall of 68 places at secondary places by the 2019/20 school year.

The biggest shortfall is expected to be in Bradford Central, were it is forecast to be 367 places by 2019.

In the Three Valleys area, which includes Bingley, Shipley and Keighley, there is expected to be a shortfall of 69 secondary school places in 2019/20.

Under new Government policies, local authorities are unable to open new schools, they have to be opened either as a free school or by an academy chain.

The Department for Education says there are no secondary free schools scheduled to open in the Bradford district next year.

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, executive member for education, skills and culture at Bradford Council, said: "We welcome the new Forster Academy but our forecasts show that we will still need more capacity in the system in the coming years.

"It was a big disappointment for the district to be given a hugely reduced allocation in the latest national Government funding round, but despite this we are doing everything in our powers to deliver the school places that local families will need.

"This is why we have invested an extra £700,000 of our own Council funds into new school places and we will continue dialogue with government about the need for increased provision in our district."

The Council is working on creating extra school places in areas under the most pressure, mainly in the form of expansions to existing school buildings.