NEARLY 1,300 extra school places are to be created in Essex thanks to a £13 million cash handout.
Two schools in Chelmsford and two in Witham are among the nine schools that will share the money to pay for extensions or remodelling work to provide space to take extra children.
The four schools are all vastly oversubscribed, are in densely populated areas, and rated as good or outstanding by inspectors from Ofsted.
In Chelmsford, Moulsham Infants School is to have another 150 places. In 2012 the school received 357 applications for its 90 reception places, making it almost four times oversubscribed.
Nearby, Oaklands Infants in Vicarage Road, will gain an extra 60 places. It too was four times oversubscribed last year with 210 families wanting one of its 50 places.
A total of 210 extra places will be created at two of Witham's most popular schools to cope with increased demand from new housing in the town.
Of those 105 will be on offer at Chipping Hill Primary, a school graded as outstanding by Ofsted.
In 2010 the school's status was changed from being an infant to a primary and moved to a brand new build on the other side of the town.
Another 105 places will be formed at Silver End Primary School, which has a good rating from Ofsted.
Essex county councillor Ray Gooding, cabinet member for education and lifelong learning, said: "This is great news for our county's schools and families and an example of our commitment to improving education throughout the county and working towards all children attending a good or outstanding school.
"In many areas of the county there is a squeeze in terms of primary school places and this funding helps us address this issue and ensure that places are available in our schools."
The new places will be available for September 2015 to allow time for the construction of extra classrooms at the schools.
Of the 1,275 total new places, in the county, 630 will be at two brand new schools: in the Braiswick area of Colchester and in Harlow.
A further 120 are to be created at two special schools to cope with the growing demand for specialist education of children with autism. Glenwood School in Benfleet and Marketfield in Colchester are each to increase by 60 places.
The cash comes from the Government's Targeted Basic Need pot which was set up to alleviate pressure on school places in areas most in demand.
These nine successful bids were among 19 bids submitted by Essex County Council.
