Nearly all middle schools in Bradford will be legally closed down to make way for new primary schools.

In these cases, the schools will technically cease to exist and the staff will be, on paper, made redundant

Many of the buildings occupied by middle schools will remain under the two-tier system. Many were built within the last 25 years and are in better condition than first school premises. Of the district's schools, 98 were built before 1900 and another 119 before 1946.

And middle school sites are of a more suitable size to cater for a higher number of children under one roof.

The majority of primary schools will have to hold between 210 and 420 pupils.

Some will accommodate even more such as Bradford Moor First, which is to take over Lapage Middle. It will have about 630 pupils.

Schools such as Broomwood Middle in Dudley Hill will close but will reopen after absorbing St John's CE First and Westgate Hill First.

Gregory Middle, Bradford's newest building, which cost £3.6m, will be taken over by its neighbouring first schools, Bierley CE First and Hambledon, which have inadequate, old and inefficient buildings to a degree that Bierley First had to be closed after an asbestos contamination scare.

A number of older first schools will also be scrapped, but new ones built in their place such as Byron First. St Augustine's CE and Wapping First will also merge in a new school.

Bradford Education has stressed that the same number of teachers will be required, but it has yet to be determined how staff in schools that are closed will be redeployed.

The most popular option is to create clusters of schools and displaced staff in those clusters will have first choice of vacancies in the remaining schools.

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