The Geographical Distribution of Church Schools in England

• Introduction
• Historical Background
• +- Church Primary Schools
  • Methodology
  • Distribution Patterns
  • Explanations
  • Conclusion
• +- Primary School Maps
  • Flash Map Viewer
  • Individual Maps
    • Base Maps
    • All CofE Schools
    • Pupils All CofE
    • CofE Aided Schools
    • Pupils CofE Aided
    • CofE Controlled Schools
    • Pupils CofE Controlled
    • Roman Catholic Schools
    • CofE & RC Schools
    • Pupils CofE & RC
• +- CofE Secondary Schools
  • Distribution
  • Map
• Notes & Download
• Culham Institute Home Page

Distribution Patterns

All Church of England schools (Section 2, maps 6–10)

The schools are concentrated in a band of LEAs in the west of England from Shropshire down to Dorset, stretching as far east as Oxfordshire. The northern LEAs of North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Lancashire have high proportions of CE primary schools, as do the eastern LEAs of Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, the Midland LEAs of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, and in the south-east the rural counties of Kent, East and West Sussex and the Isle of Wight.

Tyne and Wear, Cleveland, South Yorkshire and London all have low proportions of CE primary schools – with the exception of Inner London where many of the statistics are skewed by there being few schools in total in the LEAs. Cornwall in the south-west also stands out as having relatively few CE schools along with the northern home counties, the West Midlands, Nottinghamshire, Durham and parts of Merseyside.

Pupils in all Church of England schools (Section 2, maps 11–15)

The schools distribution is mirrored in that of pupils, but the numbers themselves are generally lower. Concentrations are found in the west, the north around Lancashire, the east and far south-east. Low numbers are again found in Outer London, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire and the north-east.

Church of England aided schools (Section 3, maps 16–20)

Aided schools are concentrated in Lancashire, Cumbria and Northumberland in the north; in Cornwall, Dorset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Hereford and Worcester in the west; and Inner London and Surrey in the south-east. In the north-west, Wigan, Bolton, Bury, Calderdale, Oldham and St Helens have high proportions of aided schools. Particularly low proportions are found in Durham, Tyne and Wear and Cleveland in the north-east, the West Midlands (excluding Solihull) and Humberside.

Pupils in Church of England aided schools (Section 3, maps 21–25)

Again similar patterns are found but in lesser proportions. Percentages are high in much of the western area, in Dorset and in the northern LEAs of Cumbria and Lancashire. Low concentrations are found in the north-east as a whole, in Avon, the West Midlands (except Solihull), Bedfordshire and in Nottinghamshire.

Church of England controlled schools (Section 4, maps 26–30)

High percentages of controlled schools are found in the west from Staffordshire down to Dorset. Lincolnshire, East Anglia, the Isle of Wight, Kent, East Sussex and North Yorkshire all have high proportions. Within the metropolitan counties, Kirklees in West Yorkshire and Wolverhampton in the West Midlands have high concentrations of controlled schools. Far fewer are to be found in London and none in the Inner London boroughs. South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, Cleveland and Merseyside in the north and Cornwall in the south all have low proportions of controlled primary schools, as does the West Midlands which stands out as an island in the midst of higher proportions.

Pupils in Church of England controlled schools (Section 4, maps 31–35)

Here the pattern is similar – though in the western areas Gloucestershire and Hereford and Worcester fall into a lower percentage band. Obvious groups of low percentages are found in the area around London and in Merseyside.

Roman Catholic schools (Section 5, maps 36–40)

Generally the percentages of Roman Catholic schools are much lower than those of Church of England schools (mainly 0.1 – 9.9%). The strongest concentration is found in Merseyside, especially Liverpool, Sefton, Knowsley and St Helens, and in Lancashire. Other areas of high proportions are in the north-east in Durham, Tyne and Wear and Cleveland; in Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Staffordshire in the north-west; in the West Midlands, especially in Coventry, and in London – in particular Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea and Brent.

Church of England and Roman Catholic schools (Section 6, maps 41–50)

When the contributions of the two churches, Church of England and Roman Catholic, are combined, the highest percentage of church primary schools (66%) is found in Wigan and Westminster. Behind them come Oxfordshire (59%), Lancashire (56%), and Knowsley, Sefton, Wiltshire and Kensington and Chelsea (55%). In terms of pupils in the schools, Westminster (62%) and Wigan (60%) still occupy the top places but the shire counties of Oxfordshire and Lancashire, on account of the number of small church schools, drop down to 46%, with St Helens, Knowsley, Sefton and Kensington and Chelsea ahead of them along with Somerset.

© John D. Gay, Jan Greenough 2000-2003. Page Top