Bradford’s super-sized secondary schools are in danger of causing pupils to “fall by the wayside”, it has been claimed.

Seven of the district’s 29 secondary schools are classed as super-sized, which means they have more than 1,500 pupils. Between them they hold around 35 per cent of Bradford secondary school pupils.

The district’s largest schools are Bingley Grammar, Hanson at Bolton, Grange Technology College in Great Horton and Oakbank in Keighley which, including their sixth forms, each have about 1,800 pupils.

Beckfoot School in Bingley has 1,600, while Buttershaw Business and Enterprise College in Buttershaw and Ilkley Grammar both have 1,500.

Councillor David Ward, the Liberal Democrat group’s education spokesman, said: “They say it’s a question of good management but I think they are becoming too big and are at risk of losing the personal touch. There’s a danger some pupils will fall by the wayside.”

Figures obtained by the Conser-vatives in response to a parliamentary question show almost 500,000 children attend 228 “super-sized” schools around the country – more than double the number of similarly-sized schools a decade ago.

Michael Gove, the shadow schools secretary, said he was concerned that larger schools were more likely to have difficulties maintaining behaviour and giving pupils individual attention.

He said: “All the evidence is that some of the most difficult problems with behaviour are found in very large schools, where the head can’t possibly know all the pupils.”

The size of Bradford’s schools, measured against their most recent Ofsted inspection reports, appears to show no relationship between capacity and performance, and the negative perception of super-sized schools has angered Bradford education chiefs.

Coun Michael Kelly, Bradford Council’s executive member for services to children and young people, said: “We do have some schools with large pupil numbers, and these include sixth forms, but this does not necessarily mean pupils don’t get the one-to-one attention they need. Schools can create their own ‘smaller school’ atmosphere through the way they design their daily timetable and the layout of the school building. Also, pupils have regular contact with year heads and mentors so they always have someone to go to for help.”

Coun Ralph Berry, the Labour group’s education spokesman and a governor at Grange Technology College, said: “It’s a gross simplification and it’s an absolutely stupid and misleading way to deal with it. Big schools can succeed with close pastoral care and support. Many schools of this size break pupils up into group houses.”

Grange Technology College has been hailed for its recent improvements and received “outstanding” Ofsted inspection reports for two consecutive years.

At Bingley Grammar, another super-sized school, this summer’s exam results were the best in its history.

Grange, Beckfoot, Hanson and Greenhead in Keighley will be rebuilt in phase two of the Build-ing Schools for the Future (BSF) programme by early 2011.

Tim Brookes, head teacher at Hanson, said big schools had an advantage.

“There’s a financial advantage it gives you to supply specialists to deliver a specialist curriculum,” he said. “We create a small-school feel. We’re a very inclusive school in terms of guidance and support. It’s about ethos and how you structure and organise the day-to-day running of the school.

“We’re a big school with more than 250 staff in total but we manage the number of students very well.”

The Government’s schools minister, Jim Knight, said: “Schools have increased in size because parents and children want to go to them. This Government has actively encouraged the expansion of popular and successful schools, so that more parents can choose to send their children to them.

“There is no evidence that discipline problems are worse in larger schools. Large schools can be split into ‘houses’ or multi-site facilities where pupils can be taught in smaller units.”