Campaigners for a new Jewish primary school for Hertfordshire were due to meet officials at the Department for Education this week in the wake of their failed bid for funding.
The decision to reject the application to open a voluntary-aided modern Orthodox primary in Borehamwood and Elstree came as a surprise last month as there had been growing expectations it would be approved.
In a letter to the applicants, the DfE explained it did not believe there was “enough basic need to warrant a new school”.
Officials wrote: “Our data revealed that there was no basic need for the school as there is already a surplus of places in the area. Local authority intelligence also confirmed this and there are concerns that approving a new school would drive pupils out of existing schools.”
The DfE also wanted more proof the project team included people experienced in managing school budgets.
But it acknowledged the application had its strengths, “particularly in governance, vision for the school and integration and cohesion”.
A spokeswoman for the school team said it continued to believe “we had a very strong bid”.
In relation to places, Hertsmere Council had looked at availability in schools in the borough overall, rather than specific demand within the Jewish community, she explained.
“However, when looking at this through the lens of Jewish state-aided schools, we are aware, and have validated with both communal professionals and local councillors, that these schools are oversubscribed.
“We intend to discuss this matter at length with the DfE during our meeting to understand how they’ve measured the demand and to underline our concerns relating to places at the existing state-aided Jewish schools.”
There are three state-aided Jewish primaries currently in Hertfordshire, two Orthodox and one pluralist.
Supporters of the new school want to cater for more religious families with a more intensive Jewish studies programme.
They also disagree with the DfE on the second reason for rejection. “Our application was supported by and included volunteers with significant school experience,” the spokeswoman maintained. The team remained hopeful that “we will be able to form a plan to progress our vision for the new school”.
The DfE has indicated there will be further opportunities to submit applications.
Unlike free schools, voluntary-aided schools have full control over admissions.
