Bilsdale Midcable Chop Gate Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School
Proposal to close Bilsdale Midcable Chopgate Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School from 31 August 2027.
This information sets out details of a proposal by ourselves to close Bilsdale Midcable Chop Gate Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School with effect from 31 August 2027. It gives the background to the proposal. There will be a public meeting at Bilsdale Midcable Chop Gate Primary School, Chop Gate, TS9 7JL on Thursday 26 November at 5.30pm.
The current position
The Federated Governing Board of the Carlton and Faceby and Bilsdale CE Federation recently resolved, with regret, to ask us to commence a consultation on the closure of Bilsdale Midcable Chop Gate Primary School. At a meeting, on 28 September, the Federated Governing Board voted to seek to consult on the school’s closure at the end of the current academic year, because pupil numbers have fallen to an unsustainable level.
We agree that this is in the best interests of current and future pupils because numbers have fallen to a level where it is difficult to provide a high quality of education for pupils in the long term. We are therefore now consulting on the proposal to close the school with effect from 31 August 2027.
Background
The Federated Governing Board has not reached this decision lightly. Bilsdale Midcable Chop Gate and Carlton and Faceby Church of England primary schools have collaborated in a federation since June 2018 and an informal confederation since April 2003. A single governing board works to support and govern the two schools in the federation and to ensure best practice is shared between them.
Leadership across the two schools is led by the Executive Headteacher of the Federation and, from the outset, the main aim of the collaboration has been to provide pupils with a broad educational experience within a small rural school context. The collaboration, where leadership is shared between schools, has provided a range of enrichment opportunities for pupils and has also supported the professional development of staff, providing opportunities to share ideas with other teachers.
However, there are currently only eight pupils on roll at Bilsdale Midcable Chop Gate Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School and it is expected that this will reduce further in future years. The Federated Governing Board’s view is that it would not be possible to provide the necessary breadth of curriculum experience to the falling number of pupils.
Four of the current pupils on roll at the school are in Year 6 and therefore will leave at the end of this academic year. If no pupils join the school by September 2027, there will be only four pupils remaining on roll in 2027 to 2028 and only three are forecast in 2028 to 2029.
This is well below the capacity of the school, which has a net capacity of 48 spaces.
As pupil numbers fall, it is increasingly difficult to provide access to the full range of experiences they need, particularly in relation to opportunities for working and playing with children of their own age and gender.
Also, pupil numbers determine the school budget under the national funding formula. The expected further reduction in the number of pupils on the school’s roll has a negative impact upon the financial viability of the school.
Bilsdale Midcable Chop Gate Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School is defined by the government as a rural school, serving isolated dwellings and hamlets. The Department for Education expects all decision makers to adopt a presumption against the closure of rural schools. However, in their statutory guidance they make it clear that this does not mean that a rural school will never close, but that the case for closure should be strong and clearly in the best interests of educational provision in the area.
Factors affecting the school’s viability
Declining pupil numbers
Bilsdale Midcable Chop Gate Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School had 15 children on roll in 2021 to 2022, and the number has fallen in subsequent years, as shown below:
2021 to 2022 - 15 pupils
2022 to 2023 - 11 pupils
2023 to 2024 - nine pupils
2024 to 2025 - nine pupils
2025 to 2026 - eight pupils
2026 to 2027 - eight pupils
The breakdown of pupils by year group for the academic years 2025 to 2026 and 2026 to 2027 and those forecast for the academic year 2027 to 2028 is as follows:
Year group
Academic year 25 to 26
Academic year 26 to 27
Academic year 27 to 28
Reception
1
0
0
Year 1
0
1
0
Year 2
0
0
1
Year 3
2
0
0
Year 4
1
2
0
Year 5
4
1
2
Year 6
0
4
1
Total
8
8
4
These figures demonstrate that it is likely that the number of pupils attending the school will continue to reduce. This is supported by the falling birth-rate in the district and by NHS GP registration data on the cohort for the catchment showing only one pupil aged 3 (and reaching Reception age in September 2027) living in the school’s catchment area. In these circumstances, it would be difficult to deliver and sustain quality education.
Small number of children living in the catchment area
The table below is based on the number of primary children living in the school’s catchment area at the time of the pupil census. The first column in the table shows the number of primary-aged children living in the school's catchment area at the time of the pupil census. It shows that, due to demographics and the falling birth rate across the district, the 2025 to 2026 pupil census records only nine primary-aged children living within the catchment area.
The second column shows that few of the in-area children attend the school. It shows that the percentage of in-area children attending has reduced to zero and that all in-area children attend other primary schools in the area.
Year of pupil census
Primary-aged children in catchment
How many of these attended Bilsdale
2021 to 2022
17
5
2022 to 2023
12
4
2023 to 2024
15
3
2024 to 2025
11
1
2025 to 2026
9
0
There are not sufficiently many primary-aged children living within the catchment area to make the school viable. This is especially true when very few of these attend the school and there are surplus places in other primary schools surrounding the catchment area.
The school has a Published Admission Number (PAN) of six pupils per year group, and the building has a net capacity of 48 spaces and, with eight pupils, could contribute 40 surplus places to the local area.
School leadership, standards and curriculum
Leadership across the school is led by the Executive Headteacher of the Carlton and Faceby and Bilsdale Church of England Federation. Some subject leaders work across the federation of two schools.
The most recent full Ofsted inspection was in October 2017. In their most recent full graded inspection Ofsted’s overall judgement of Bilsdale was Good. In their ungraded inspection in July 2023 Ofsted confirmed that the school remains good.
As numbers fall, it is increasingly difficult to provide the remaining pupils with access to the full range of experiences and the quality of education they require. The Governing Body and the Local Authority have become increasingly concerned that pupils will not have access to the full range of experiences they need, particularly opportunities for working and playing with children their own age.
The financial position
The Federation of Carlton and Faceby Church of England Primary School and Bilsdale Midcable Chop Gate Church of England Primary School operate an amalgamated budget for the two schools within the Federation. The school is projecting in-year deficits of £99,600 in 2027 to 2028 and £154,200 in 2028 to 2029 and is projecting a cumulative deficit of £189,200 in the 2028 to 2029 financial year. These figures are based on current pupil assumptions, so the position could deteriorate further if pupil numbers fall.
There appears to be no reasonable long-term prospect of recovery for the revenue element of Bilsdale’s budget share, given the very low numbers of children living within the catchment area. In the event of Bilsdale closing on 31 August 2027 any final deficit on the school’s budget share, after all costs have been accounted for, would need to be met from local authority funds.
Primary school places in the local area
It is important to ensure that there are sufficient school places in the local area. In the 2025 to 2026 pupil census there are nine pupils living in Bilsdale’s discrete catchment area and attending a North Yorkshire school. Across the area there is a general surplus of places. There are six other neighbouring primary schools with adjacent catchment areas to the Bilsdale Midcable Chop Gate, Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School’s catchment area. The nearest school to Bilsdale is Carlton and Faceby Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School which has a net capacity of 77 spaces with only 47 pupils on roll and therefore has places available. There is currently capacity in all year groups at Ingleby Greenhow, which is the next nearest school. These schools were judged ‘Good’ in their last Ofsted inspection.
Further details of adjacent school capacities and pupil forecasts are set out in an accompanying document.
The proposal
For the reasons above it is proposed that Bilsdale Midcable Chop Gate Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School should close with effect from 31 August 2027.
It is also proposed that the catchment area of Carlton and Faceby Church of England VA Primary School should be extended to include the current Bilsdale catchment area. This is proposed because Carlton and Faceby is the nearest school by road, has an adjacent catchment area to that of Bilsdale School and is the federated school. The proposed enlarged catchment is shown on maps accompanying the consultation document, but these arrangements would be implemented from September 2027 only in the event of closure for Bilsdale Midcable Chop Gate Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School.
We would welcome views regarding the future catchment area proposal as part of this consultation.
Admissions and catchment areas
Free home to school transport would be provided for eligible pupils taking account of the revised catchment area arrangements in accordance with the Council’s Home to School Transport Policy.
Staff
A separate staff consultation process, including a meeting for staff and their professional associations and unions, will run in parallel with this consultation on the closure proposal. Staff are also welcome to comment on the proposal as part of this consultation.
The school site and buildings
Decisions about the future of school sites following a closure are separate to the closure decision itself and would follow later.
Additional information
This consultation document should be read in conjunction with the following documents:
The closing date for responses is 5pm on Friday 18 December 2026.
All responses to the consultation received by this date will be considered by the council’s Executive on 26 January 2027.
Responses to the consultation will be published on our website. Your personal details and those of others you may refer to, will not be published.
If our Executive decides to proceed with the closure proposal, then statutory notices would be published in the local press on 5 February 2027. These notices would provide a further four weeks for representations to be made. A final decision is then scheduled to be taken by our Executive on 30 March 2027. If agreed, the school would close on 31 August 2027.
