PLACES at a popular school in Leigh are set to be slashed due to fewer children being born in Southend, it has been revealed.

The number of children starting Year 3 at Chalkwell Hall Junior School, in London Road, Leigh, will be cut from 120 to 90 for the 2025/26 academic year.

Other year groups at the school will remain unaffected during the 2025/26 year.

It will bring it in line with the number of places at Chalkwell Hall Infant School, where the number of children starting reception at the school has also been cut to 90.

Helen Boyd, councillor responsible for education, said: “The infant school is already down to 90, and as the children then go through to juniors for Year 3, it makes sense to align the numbers.

“If the numbers did remain at 120, there is a slight risk of more admissions from [other] schools unnecessarily and this would cause disruption.

“Some parents might think to put them there, and this will negatively impact [other] schools in Leigh.

“The most important thing is the alignment with Chalkwell Hall Infant School.”

It comes as fresh figures show Southend saw a lower number of births in 2022 than in any year since at least 2013.

The figures show there were 1,871 live births in Southend in 2022 – a slight fall from 1,875 the year before, and the fewest of any year since at least 2013.

At the other end of the scale, 2016 saw the highest number of births in the area, with 2,260 over the course of the year.

The move is set to be discussed at a meeting of Southend’s people scrutiny committee next Wednesday.

According to the report, the school has been aware of the planned reduction in the admission number since 2018.

Chalkwell Hall’s direct catchment area has seen a 22 per cent reduction in births and is expected to continue for at least the next four years.

There are no proposed changes to the admission limits for the remaining community schools run by the local authority.

The Echo has contacted Chalkwell Hall Junior School for comment.