It seems to be a regular headline in the news: village school closing due to too few pupils.

It’s an issue across the country, but particularly problematic in somewhere as rural as North Yorkshire.

While schools in towns and cities such as Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough have no issues with pupil numbers, many small villages with an older population don’t have enough children to maintain a school.

A school’s budget is decided by how many pupils are on the roll, and so if the number drops too low the school becomes impossible to fund.

Here are the five schools in the Harrogate district that have closed in as many years, as well as others which have partially closed or merged.

North Stainley Church of England Primary School

While currently still open, this school near Ripon is set to close at the end of this school year.

The trust directors “regretfully” proposed the closure to the Secretary of State for Education, who issued a substantive decision on July 14 to close the school, and parents were informed of the proposal the following day.

In a statement, the trust said it was “deeply saddened” to have had to make the decision and said the primary reason for closure was the low pupil numbers.

Fountains Earth Church of England Primary School 

The school in Lofthouse, near Pateley Bridge, had the number of children on roll fall from 20 in 2017 to 10 in 2022, before finally closing in March 2024 with no pupils left.

The council’s executive member for education Annabel Wilkinson said “nobody wants to close a small school” and it was “a very hard decision”.

At the time, executive member for finance Cllr Gareth Dadd said keeping a school open with such few potential pupils “would be doing a disservice to those children" pointing out the importance for socialisation as part of the education process.

Cllr Greg White, executive member for environment, said for rural schools to remain open, residents need to “breed and have children”.

It is believed that parents also started to withdraw their children as the numbers dropped, especially when ages four to 11 were taught in one class.

The school’s catchment area became part of St Cuthbert’s Church of England Primary School in Pateley Bridge.

Skelton Newby Hall Church of England Primary School

This school, near Boroughbridge, closed its doors on August 31, 2023 after 167 years of teaching.

In February 2023, just one pupil remained on roll at the school - although they were being educated at the nearby Sharow Church of England Primary School.

The school suffered dwindling numbers for several years before it closed and at the beginning of September 2021 there were only 15 pupils left, and with pupil numbers determining the school budget, it was said there appeared to be “no reasonable prospect of recovery” for the school.

Baldersby St James Church of England Primary School

The school, near Melmerby, closed in August 2022 with only 22 pupils in two classes – some year groups had just one student.

Helen Winn, chief executive of the academy trust, said at the time it was “impossible to deliver the broad, balanced curriculum that the children deserve”.

Carlton Miniott Primary Academy, Dishforth Church of England Primary School and Topcliffe Church of England Academy took up the catchment areas left by the school closure.

Kell Bank Church of England Primary School

The school, near Masham, was forced to close in August 2021 again due to low pupil numbers.

While the school was able to accommodate up to 50 pupils aged four to 11, it had just six – five of whom were girls.

Stuart Carlton, director of children’s services at the council, said at the time the decision was made with a "heavy heart".

He also cited that not only were finances an issue, but that the lack of socialising would have a negative impact on the children.

Partial closures and mergers

While these are the village schools that have completely closed, some have had to take drastic steps to stay afloat.

In 2025, the nursery at Kettlesing Felliscliffe Community Primary School closed after numbers fell from 17 in October 2020 to nine by October 2022 – and by the time it closed no nursery-aged children were in attendance.

On the other end of the education system, Boroughbridge High School Sixth Form closed in August 2024 after no pupils registered for post-GCSE study at the establishment.

Two village schools are also set to merge to stay afloat from April 2027.

Under the proposal, Snape Community Primary School and Thornton Watlass Church of England Primary School would become one school, with younger pupils taught at Snape and older children at Thornton Watlass.

Council figures show that Snape has 28 pupils on roll, compared with just eight at Thornton Watlass. The schools have capacities of 52 and 51 pupils respectively.