The Department for Education (DfE) "does not know" whether the £5 billion it is putting towards meeting the demand for school places will be enough, MPs have said.
With around 256,000 new school places needed by September 2014, an investigation by Parliament's Committee of Public Accounts has accused the DfE of having "failed to adequately plan for the increased demand".
It says that without enough resources to provide new places, some local authorities may be forced to use school facilities such as music rooms or libraries to cope, while others could expand class sizes beyond the legal limit of 30.
Critics have blasted the DfE for “ploughing" money into free schools in areas where there are surplus places.
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