Lammas School in Leyton to close in 2027 as pupil numbers fall

Families in Leyton received news this week that many had hoped would not come. The Griffin Schools Trust has announced that The Lammas School will close at the end of the 2026-27 academic year, on 31st August 2027, citing a "sustained decline in pupil numbers at the school over recent years".

The numbers behind that sentence are stark. Year Seven admissions at Lammas fell from 141 in 2021 to just 51 in 2025.

The trust said it had already tried a series of measures before starting the consultation that led to this decision, pointing to "financial planning, staffing adjustments, collaboration across its schools and changes to post-16 provision". It also said it had "explored partnerships and merger options".

For parents, the decision lands as something more personal than a set of admissions figures. Melissa Nesbitt, whose children attend Riverly Primary — also part of the Griffin Schools Trust — said: "I'm fearing we may have to move again because there isn't enough secondary school provision here."

She said the closure was all the harder to take because of where the school had got to. Lammas achieved its "strongest [GCSE results] for several years" in August.

Olivia Power has launched an online petition against the closure. "The closure of Lammas should not be mistaken for a lack of need," she argued.

That distinction — between a school that few children are being enrolled in and a community that still needs secondary places — sits at the centre of what parents are saying.

Lammas is not facing this alone. Waltham Forest saw a 5.38% drop in Year Seven pupils last year, and nursery numbers across the borough have fallen 27% over the past decade. London Councils forecasts a 3.8% fall in Year Seven places across the capital between 2025-26 and 2029-30, which would mean roughly £45million in lost funding for London schools.

For the pupils currently at Lammas, there is a full academic year still to run. For the families around them, the year ahead will be about where their children go next — and whether there is room for them close to home.