Two Yeadon Schools to Merge in 2026

Key Points

• Leeds City Council has confirmed its support for a proposal to merge Westfield Infant School and Westfield Junior School in Yeadon.
• The plan would create a new Yeadon Westfield Primary School, taking children aged three to 11 from September 2026.
• The infant school would change its age range from three to seven to three to 11, while the junior school would close at the end of August 2026.
• Both current school buildings would be used for teaching in the first few years, before all pupils move into the existing junior school building by September 2029 as a one‑form‑entry primary.
• The council cited falling birth rates, reduced pupil numbers, and significant financial pressures as the main reasons for backing the merger.
• A final decision on the proposal is expected when Leeds City Council’s executive board meets in June 2026.
• Initial talks and public meetings were held in November and December 2025, followed by a formal consultation launched after statutory notices were issued.
• Feedback has been sought from parents, headteachers of nearby secondary schools, ward councillors, and trade unions.
• The council states that all current pupils would have a place at the new Yeadon Westfield Primary School, which would be led by a single headteacher.

Leeds City Council (The Leeds Times) April 27, 2026. A council spokesperson told BBC: “We support the schools’ proposals to amalgamate from September to ensure the long‑term delivery of high‑quality education on the Westfield site.” According to the council’s written report, the proposal is being considered against a backdrop of falling births, reduced pupil numbers, and significant financial pressures on local schools.

The bodies representing Westfield Infant School, based in Westfield Grove in Yeadon, have proposed transforming the institution into a primary school for children aged three to 11. Under the plan, Westfield Junior School – located on New Road – would cease to operate as a separate school from 31 August 2026. On the BBC’s coverage, reporters noted that the infant school would effectively become a primary, while the junior school would “discontinue” its standalone status, with pupils transferring to the restructured Yeadon Westfield Primary.

How will the new Yeadon Westfield Primary School be structured?

A council consultation document, summarised by the BBC and on the Leeds City Council website, sets out that an amalgamated Yeadon Westfield Primary School would retain the junior‑school building as the main site from 2029. The document explains:

“Both school buildings would be used for teaching for the first few years, before all children move into the junior school building as a one‑form‑entry primary school by September 2029.”

This means that, initially, pupils would be taught across the two existing sites, with a gradual transition to a single campus.

The council’s planning materials page notes that the move to a one‑form‑entry primary would be designed to match projected pupil numbers and to reduce the operational and staffing costs associated with running two separate sites.

As set out in the consultation booklet shared with parents and stakeholders, the merged school would operate under a single headteacher and a restructured senior leadership team. The council said that

“all current pupils would have a place”

at the new Yeadon Westfield Primary School, ensuring that no child would be displaced by the reorganisation.

What are the financial and demographic reasons behind the merger?

Journalists at the BBC quoted a council report which explicitly links the proposed merger to wider demographic and budgetary trends. The report notes that the proposal is being put forward

“against a backdrop of falling births, reduced pupil numbers and significant financial pressures.”

Under the current two‑school structure, maintaining separate leadership teams, premises, and administrative functions places a strain on available school‑place funding and local authority resources.

On the Leeds City Council schools‑and‑education planning page, officials explain that creating a single Yeadon Westfield Primary School would offer

“greater financial security for the school, providing stability for pupils, staff and the local community.”

By combining the infant and junior sites into one primary, the council and governors expect to reduce duplication of roles, streamline estate management, and align staffing more closely with expected roles.

The document also notes that the junior school building would be retained and eventually used as the permanent site of the new primary, which would help preserve community access to the existing asset.

How has the council consulted parents and the local community?

As reported by the BBC, initial discussions and public meetings on the merger plan were held in November and December 2025, before the formal consultation was launched. The council said that

“governors considered feedback from families and launched a formal consultation after statutory notices were issued,”

indicating that the process followed statutory requirements for school‑place changes. The consultation document, which was shared with residents and stakeholders, invited views from parents, headteachers of nearby secondary schools, ward councillors, and trade unions.

A BBC piece summarising the consultation noted that governors of both Westfield Infant and Westfield Junior School have been weighing the responses from these groups before the executive board meeting in June.

The council’s planning page adds that the consultation specifically sought to understand how the proposed change in age range and the closure of the junior school as a separate entity would affect families in Yeadon. Views on the timing of the move to a one‑form‑entry primary by 2029, as well as on the use of the existing junior‑school building, were also part of the questions put to respondents.

What is next for the merger proposal, and when will it be decided?

According to the BBC’s coverage, a final decision on the Westfield merger proposal is expected when Leeds City Council’s executive board convenes in June 2026.

The council’s report, referenced on the Leeds.gov.uk schools‑and‑education‑planning page, states that the board will consider the consultation outcomes and the financial and educational case for amalgamation before reaching a determination.

If approved, the changes would take effect from September 2026, with the infant school becoming a primary and the junior school closing as a separate entity from 31 August 2026.

A council spokesperson told the BBC:

“We support the schools’ proposals to amalgamate from September to ensure the long‑term delivery of high‑quality education on the Westfield site,”

framing the decision as one aimed at safeguarding educational standards in the face of dwindling pupil numbers. The same source noted that the council’s preferred outcome is a single Yeadon Westfield Primary School, using the

Ting Junior School building as the long‑term home for the new three‑to‑11 setting. Until the executive board’s June meeting, governors and officers continue to monitor feedback and prepare options for implementation should the merger be formally approved.

Background of the Yeadon school‑merger plan

Yeadon has long been served by separate infant and junior schools on the Westfield site, with Westfield Infant School catering for younger children from age three to seven and Westfield Junior School for older pupils. Over recent years, education planners in Leeds have highlighted that across the city, falling birth rates and changing housing patterns have led to lower demand for primary places in some areas, including parts of the Yeadon cluster.

At the same time, tightening school‑place and local‑authority budgets have increased pressure to eliminate under‑utilised sites and duplicated leadership roles.

In November and December 2025, governors of both Westfield schools began a series of talks and public meetings, which were later reported by the BBC as forming the basis for the formal consultation.

The council’s planning materials page describes how, after issuing statutory notices, governors opened a wider consultation and invited comments from parents, secondary school heads, ward councillors, and trade unions. The proposals drafted in that document laid out the plan for a single Yeadon Westfield Primary School, the shift to a three‑to‑11 age range, and the phased move to one site by 2029.

Prediction: How this development could affect parents and the Yeadon community

For families in Yeadon, the approval of the merger would mean a more compact, single‑school structure serving children from nursery age through to the end of primary, which could simplify transitions between key stages and reduce the need for movement between sites. If the executive board gives the go‑ahead, parents may benefit from perceived greater financial and operational stability, as the council has indicated that the amalgamated primary would offer “greater financial security” and longer‑term viability than maintaining two smaller schools.