Key Points

• A South London primary school, Oasis Academy Putney, is set to close just nine years after opening due to sharply falling pupil numbers.
• The Department for Education has agreed in principle to the closure, with the final decision expected from Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson.
• At the time of the closure proposal, Oasis Academy Putney had 121 pupils aged four to 11, despite having capacity for 420 students.
• The school opened in January 2017 on the site of the former Putney Hospital, which was demolished in 2012.
• Wandsworth Council is considering reducing forms of entry (FE) at more primary and secondary schools across the borough to manage declining demand for places.
• Four primary schools in Wandsworth have already closed since 2023; with Oasis Academy Putney, that brings the total to five.
• The council’s report says more primary schools in Wandsworth are expected to have to reduce their forms of entry in future to tackle excess capacity.
• Wandsworth Council is already working with two unnamed primary schools to combine their year groups as a temporary measure to help secure their long-term future.
• A reduction of six forms of entry across secondary schools in Wandsworth may also be needed by 2031/32, with discussions ongoing.
• Similar trends are appearing in other South London boroughs, such as Southwark, where two primary schools are being closed over falling rolls linked to declining birth rates and families leaving London.

Putney (South London News) July 10, 2026 – Wandsworth Council is considering reducing forms of entry at more primary and secondary schools across the borough due to falling pupil numbers, with Oasis Academy Putney set to shut this month, just nine years after it opened.As reported by the Evening Standard, Wandsworth Council is considering reducing forms of entry at more primary and secondary schools across the borough to manage the declining demand for places.

The authority has been using this strategy in recent years to prevent closures, yet four primary schools in the borough have shut since 2023.

Oasis Academy Putney is also due to close this month, just nine years after opening, bringing the total to five.

Latest Government figures showed the school only had 121 pupils, aged four to 11, despite having capacity for 420 students. The school opened less than a decade ago, in January 2017, on the site of the former Putney Hospital, which was demolished in 2012.

The Department for Education (DfE) has agreed in principle to shut Oasis Academy Putney at the end of the academic year, meaning Oasis Community Learning can move ahead with its plans to close the school due to falling pupil numbers.

How many schools have already closed in Wandsworth?

According to the Evening Standard’s report, four primary schools in Wandsworth have shut since 2023, and with the planned closure of Oasis Academy Putney, that figure rises to five.

The council’s own report indicates that more primary schools in Wandsworth are expected to have to reduce their forms of entry in future to tackle excess capacity in the schooling system.

As noted by Putney.news, Griffin, West Hill and Falconbrook primaries are all operating below Wandsworth’s 22-pupil viability threshold, according to council budget documents.

These schools have been flagged as potentially facing similar pressures, though no final closure decisions have been announced for them at this stage.

Why is Wandsworth Council reducing forms of entry?

Wandsworth Council’s strategy of reducing forms of entry aims to manage declining demand for places without immediate closure.

A “form of entry” refers to the number of pupils a school admits each year into a particular age group; reducing FE means fewer new pupils are taken in, which gradually brings class sizes and staffing needs down to match actual demand.

The council is already working with two primary schools to combine their year groups, which it hopes will be a temporary measure to help secure their long-term future, though it has not named them.

This approach is intended to stabilise schools with low rolls while avoiding the disruption of full closure.

What does the report say about secondary schools in Wandsworth?

The report cited by the Evening Standard states that a reduction of six forms of entry across secondary schools in Wandsworth may also be needed by 2031/32, and that discussions with schools are ongoing.

This suggests that the pressure from falling pupil numbers is not limited to primary education but is also expected to affect secondary provision in the coming years.

The council has not yet specified which secondary schools would see reduced forms of entry, but the scale of the proposed reduction indicates a significant adjustment to the borough’s secondary school capacity.

Is this a problem only in Wandsworth?

Similar patterns are emerging in other South London boroughs. As reported by the BBC, Southwark Council has announced the closure of two primary schools, Sharman School and Castle Mary Magdalene Church of England Primary in Peckham, over falling school rolls. The council blames the “difficult” decision on declining birth rates and families leaving London.

This closure will bring the total number of schools that have ceased operations in Southwark to eight since 2022.

The experiences in both Wandsworth and Southwark suggest a broader trend in South London, where shrinking pupil populations are forcing councils and academies to reconsider school capacity and even closure.

What will happen to pupils and staff at Oasis Academy Putney?

The Department for Education will now explore the school’s case for closure in more detail, before inviting feedback from stakeholders.

The final decision will be made by Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, and the school will close in July if the proposals are approved.

While the sources do not detail specific relocation plans for pupils or staff, typical processes in such cases involve transferring pupils to neighbouring schools and offering staff alternative placements or redundancy negotiations, depending on individual circumstances and national guidance.

Background of the development

The closure of Oasis Academy Putney and the broader reduction of forms of entry in Wandsworth come amid a sustained decline in pupil numbers across parts of South London.

The school opened in January 2017 on the site of the former Putney Hospital, which was demolished in 2012, as part of efforts to expand local primary capacity.

Within a few years, however, the school struggled to fill its places. By the time closure proposals were advanced, it had 121 pupils against a capacity of 420, reflecting a significant shortfall.

This mirrors wider trends identified in council reports and national data, where falling birth rates, changing family patterns, and families moving out of London are reducing demand for school places in certain areas.

Wandsworth Council has responded by using tools such as reducing forms of entry and combining year groups to manage excess capacity without immediate closure.

The council’s report explicitly warns that more primary schools in the borough may need to follow this path, and that secondary schools could also see reduced entry numbers by 2031/32.

The situation in Southwark, with multiple school closures since 2022, further underscores that this is not an isolated issue but part of a regional shift in school demographics.

Prediction: How could this development affect families, pupils and the community?

If more primary and secondary schools in Wandsworth reduce their forms of entry, families in the borough may face tighter availability of places in certain schools, particularly those that are already operating near or below viability thresholds.

Parents may need to apply to a wider range of schools, travel further, or accept placements at institutions that were not their first choice.

For pupils, reduced forms of entry and combined year groups could change classroom dynamics, with smaller class sizes but potentially fewer peer groups within each year.

In areas where schools close, such as Oasis Academy Putney, children will need to move to other schools, which can be disruptive to their social and educational routines. Staff at affected schools may face redeployment, changes in working conditions, or, in some cases, redundancy.

At a community level, school closures and capacity reductions can alter the local landscape: buildings may be repurposed, and the sense of a school as a community hub can weaken.

In neighbourhoods where families have already been leaving, the reduction in school capacity may further influence perceptions of the area’s long-term viability for families, potentially reinforcing patterns of decline in certain pockets of South London.