Primary schools face unprecedented pressure for places amid rising numbers of ethnic minority pupils, according to official figures.

Tens of thousands more youngsters are being squeezed into primaries this year as a result of a baby boom, particularly among non-white British families.

The trend is behind the rise of ‘supersized’ primaries with more than 800 pupils and an increase in big classes.

The number of primary school children has soared by almost 100,000 in just a year - fuelled by a surge in ethnic minorities pupils, official figures revealed this morning

The total primary school population in England has continued to rise, reaching the highest levels since the 1970s – with 93,600 extra pupils this year.

The 2.1 per cent increase is equivalent to six more pupils in each primary, bringing the national total to around 4.5million.

The Department for Education figures show that 3.6million of these primary children are of compulsory school age.

1.17m DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH AT HOME The number of schoolchildren speaking English as a second language has risen to a record high of 1.17million. Official figures show one in five children in primary education – 19.4 per cent of the total – speak another language at home, up 0.7 percentage points since January 2014. There are now 693,815 primary pupils who do not have English as their mother tongue and 477,286 in secondary schools, Department for Education figures show. In secondary schools, one in six children are exposed to a first language other than English at home. Some 1,171,101 primary and secondary pupils speak a first language other than English, against 896,240 in 2010. Greet Primary School in Sparkhill, Birmingham, last month revealed its pupils speak at least 23 different languages. Earlier this year, members of the Association of Teachers said native-speaking children are not getting their ‘fair share’ of teachers’ time because of the additional needs of those from abroad. Advertisement

There were 81,688 more of these youngsters – aged five and above – in January compared with a year earlier. Seventy-one per cent of this increase – 57,764 pupils – was made up of children from ethnic minorities.

Around one in three primary pupils – 30.4 per cent – are now from an ethnic minority. This is up from 25.5 per cent in 2010.

The DfE statistics reveal that in the last year, the total number of primary schools declined slightly from 16,788 to 16,766.

However, they are getting bigger to cope. There are now 87 primaries with more than 800 pupils, compared to 77 in 2014 and only 16 in 2010.

These ‘supersized’ primaries educate around 79,000 children across the country.

The number of infants – pupils aged five to seven – in classes of 31 or more has also more than trebled in the last five years.

In 2010, there were 31,265 infants in large classes but, as of January this year, there were 100,765.

Russell Hobby of the National Association of Head Teachers said: ‘The rise in pupil numbers is no surprise. The Government’s plans are just not adequate.’

Last year almost 77,000 children failed to secure places at their first choice of primary school.