An increasing number of so-called “titan” schools – with a pupil capacity above and beyond any current institutions – may be created around the UK.

The new super-sized secondary schools, which would pose a number of financial and administrative challenges, are seen as a possible solution to the growing shortage of school places in certain parts of the country.

An increased birth rate has fuelled the need for places, particularly in densely-populated urban areas.

A possible blueprint for a new model of titan school can be seen in Barking and Dagenham, East London.

There the local authority has recently received a request for a school which would take around 16 forms of pupils every year and have a total roll-call of around 2,500.

If the proposals were given the go-ahead, the facility would be the largest secondary school in the entire UK (with around 400 more students than the current biggest, which is based in Milton Keynes.)

The demand for new places isn’t just confined to the capital and councils in cities including Birmingham and Peterborough are also exploring options to expand in an effort to cope with an unprecedented squeeze on places.

The scale of the challenge is laid bare by official figures from the Department for Education; by 2023 there will be an estimated 8,022,000 pupils in the English school system – almost 900,000 more than at present.

A spokesman for the Local Government Association (LGA) said: “Councils and schools have been doing everything they can to provide places.

“In all, 300,000 primary school places have been created since 2010 with many schools going to extraordinary lengths to ensure there is a place for every child, including increasing class sizes, diverting money from vital school repairs and converting non-classroom space, such as music rooms.”

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