Ealing's preferred option closes Viking Primary and moves its 192 pupils to Downe Manor. Viking is 9% empty; Downe Manor half empty. Decision 22 Sept.
Ealing Council will decide on Tuesday 22 September whether to consult on closing Viking Primary School in Northolt and moving its pupils half a mile to Downe Manor Primary School.
The decision sits with one person, Councillor Blerina Hashani, the cabinet member for a fairer start. The report she will decide on was published on the council’s committee site ahead of the decision. It names closing Viking as the council’s preferred option, with the school shutting on 31 August 2027 and its pupils transferring to Downe Manor the next day.
No decision has been taken on either school’s future. What is being decided on Tuesday is whether to ask people what they think.
The school proposed for closure is the fuller one
The council’s own figures, taken in May 2026, show the two schools are the same size in pupils and very different in space.
| Viking | Downe Manor | |
|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 192 | 208 |
| Reception class this year | 27 | 14 |
| Places offered a year | 30 | 30 |
| Physical capacity | 210 (30 a year) | 420 (60 a year) |
| Physical capacity unused | 9% | 50% |
| Reception surplus against places offered | 10% | 53% |
| Vacancies, reception to Year 6 | 17 | 64 |
| Last Ofsted grade | Good, March 2023 | Good, June 2024 |
Viking is close to full. It filled 27 of its 30 reception places this year. Downe Manor filled 14, and half of its building is empty.
The council is not proposing to close the emptier school. Its case rests on two things that have nothing to do with how many children turn up.
The first is money tied to a building contract. Downe Manor is a PFI school, built under the Private Finance Initiative, and it pays a fixed annual sum to the PFI contractor for maintenance and repair whatever its roll. The report says the school needs at least 45 pupils a year to break even because of that cost. It has run an in-year deficit for three years running:
- £178,000 in 2023/24
- £343,000 in 2024/25
- £285,000 in 2025/26
The second is the state of the Viking building. The report says the latest Department for Education condition survey graded Viking L on a scale running from A, the best, to M, the worst, with G as average. Downe Manor was graded D. Viking has stayed in cumulative surplus to the end of 2025/26, but the council forecasts in-year deficits of £27,000 in 2026/27, £123,000 in 2027/28 and £162,000 in 2028/29, tipping it into cumulative deficit in 2027/28.
Put plainly, the council’s argument is that it cannot afford to run two one-class schools half a mile apart, that one of the two sites is worth keeping and the other is not, and that the site worth keeping is the one with the empty classrooms.
The report also notes that Downe Manor’s leadership is about to strengthen. It is forming a federation with Gifford Primary School, to be called The Northala Federation, in October 2026, under a shared executive headteacher.
Why the council says numbers have fallen
The proposal sits inside a borough-wide fall in the number of children starting school.
- Reception numbers across Ealing peaked at 4,630 in 2014/15 and were 3,712 in 2025/26, a fall of 918 children, or 20%.
- The council has already cut 615 reception places by reducing admission numbers at 18 schools since 2017/18.
- 14 Ealing-maintained primary schools are now in overall financial deficit, against six three years ago.
- In the Greenford, Northolt and Perivale West planning area, which is entirely inside the Northolt West End ward, reception numbers have fallen 39%, from 285 in 2014/15 to 175 in 2025/26.
- Forecasts in the report put that area’s reception cohort at 139 in September 2026, then between roughly 160 and 180 for the rest of the seven-year projection.
The planning area has four schools: Viking and Downe Manor, both community schools the council controls, plus St Raphael’s Catholic Primary School and Alec Reed Academy, which it does not. Only the two community schools are in the proposal.
The six options
If the consultation is approved, all six of these would be put to people, not just the preferred one:
- Do nothing. The report says this would leave both schools facing growing deficits.
- Close Viking and merge into Downe Manor, raising Downe Manor’s admission number back to 60 a year from September 2027. This is the preferred option.
- Close Downe Manor and merge into Viking on the Viking site. Ruled not viable, because the Viking site is too small to hold both schools.
- Close Viking without a merger.
- Close Downe Manor without a merger.
- Close Downe Manor and move an expanded Viking onto the Downe Manor site. The report says this gives the same number of places but a harder transition.
What would happen to the children
The report and the council’s questions and answers document set out what the preferred option would mean for families:
- Every Viking pupil in reception to Year 5 at the end of the 2026/27 year would transfer automatically to Downe Manor on 1 September 2027. Families would not have to apply.
- Parents who did not want Downe Manor could apply elsewhere. The council says nearby schools have enough vacancies to take every displaced pupil within statutory walking distance.
- It is 700 metres in a straight line between the two schools, under a mile by road, with crossings over Yeading Lane. The council says around 85% of Viking’s current pupils already live within a mile of Downe Manor.
- Children applying for reception in September 2027 who have a sibling at Viking would get a sibling link at Downe Manor. Any preference for Viking would be withdrawn once a decision to close was taken.
- Uniforms are similar, and the council says it would help Viking families buy the Downe Manor branded items.
- Viking’s staff are employed by Ealing Council. The report says closure would put them at risk of redundancy, and that staff at a closing school cannot be automatically redeployed, because employment decisions sit with each school’s governing body. The council is drawing up an HR protocol under which schools would offer an interview to staff at risk.
- The community centre on the Viking site is not part of the consultation. The council says a preferred tenant has been identified and that it intends community activities to continue.
- If Viking closed, its site would be vacated. Because it has been used as a school, the Department for Education would have to approve any change of use. The council says it would welcome views on what the site could become.
The timetable, and when you can have your say
Anyone with an interest can respond to the consultation, not only parents. The council lists pupils, parents and carers, staff, governors, local residents, community groups and trade unions.
There are two separate chances to comment. The first is the public consultation, expected to run 5 October to 13 November 2026. The second is a statutory representation period of four weeks, 8 February to 8 March 2027, which only happens if cabinet decides on 2 December to publish a statutory proposal.
Asked in its own document whether this is a done deal, the council answers: “No.” It says the current stage is about whether to consult, and that it must then follow the Department for Education’s statutory process.
One date in the timetable explains its shape. Reception offers for September 2027 go out on 16 April 2027. The council has built the process so that a final decision lands before the Easter holidays, which it says means no family would be offered a place at a school already marked for closure.
What it means for you
If your child is at Viking, nothing changes this school year, and nothing changes next year either. The earliest the school could close is 31 August 2027. If it does, your child moves automatically to Downe Manor and you do not need to apply anywhere.
If you are applying for a reception place in Northolt West End for September 2027, you will be applying before the council makes its final decision in March 2027. The council says you can still name Viking as one of your choices, because at that stage no decision will have been taken. Offers go out on 16 April 2027.
If you want to object, or to argue for a different option, the consultation is the moment, and it is a six-week window from 5 October. Waiting for the statutory stage in February means arguing against a proposal the council has already settled on.
If you use the community centre on the Viking site, it is outside this consultation. The council says it has found a preferred tenant and expects community use to continue.
If you live in Northolt more widely, the Viking site is a council-owned school site with no decided future, and the council has said it wants views on what it should be used for. That is a question worth answering while it is being asked.
Ealing’s secondary schools are on a different timetable: our guide to applying for a high school place covers the 31 October deadline.
Frequently asked questions
Is Viking Primary School in Northolt closing?
No decision has been taken. Closing Viking is Ealing Council’s preferred option, set out in a report for a decision on 22 September 2026 about whether to hold a public consultation. If that consultation runs and the council then decides to proceed at both of the later stages, the school would close on 31 August 2027. There are three separate council decisions still to come before that happens.
Why close Viking rather than Downe Manor, when Viking is fuller?
The council’s case is about buildings and budgets rather than pupil numbers. Downe Manor has physical capacity for 420 pupils against Viking’s 210, so it can hold both schools’ children, and the council says its site and buildings are of better quality. The latest Department for Education condition survey graded Viking L, on a scale from A at best to M at worst. Downe Manor was graded D.
What would happen to my child if Viking closed?
Every Viking pupil in reception to Year 5 at the end of the 2026/27 school year would transfer automatically to Downe Manor on 1 September 2027. Families would not need to apply, and the council says there would be help towards the cost of Downe Manor uniform items. Parents who preferred a different school could apply elsewhere.
How far is Downe Manor from Viking?
Seven hundred metres in a straight line and under a mile by road, with crossings over Yeading Lane. The council says about 85% of Viking’s current pupils already live within a mile of the Downe Manor site.
When can I have my say?
Twice, if the process runs its full course. The public consultation is expected to run from 5 October to 13 November 2026. A four-week statutory representation period would follow from 8 February to 8 March 2027, but only if cabinet decides on 2 December to publish a statutory proposal. Anyone with an interest can respond to either, not just parents.
What would happen to the Viking site and its community centre?
The site would be vacated, and because it has been used as a school the Department for Education would have to approve any change of use. The council says it would welcome views on what it could become. The community centre on the site is not part of this consultation; the council says a preferred tenant has been identified and that it intends community activities to continue.
How many children are starting school in Ealing now?
Reception numbers across the borough peaked at 4,630 in 2014/15 and were 3,712 in 2025/26, a fall of 918 children or 20%. The council has already removed 615 reception places by cutting admission numbers at 18 schools since 2017/18. Fourteen Ealing-maintained primary schools are in overall financial deficit, against six three years ago.
Sources
- Ealing Council, Decision to consult on proposed school organisation changes, the report for the individual cabinet member decision of 22 September 2026, for the preferred option, the 31 August 2027 closure date, table 2 of pupil numbers and capacity, the Downe Manor deficits and PFI break-even figure, the DfE condition grades, the Viking deficit forecasts, the six options, the borough and planning area pupil figures, the 14 schools in deficit and the timetable. Appendix 3 of the same report provides the vacancy figures and the distances between schools.
- Ealing Council, Consultation about the potential closure of Viking Primary School and merger into Downe Manor Primary School: questions and answers, for the automatic transfer, the sibling link, the uniform support, the walking route over Yeading Lane, the community centre and who can respond.
- Ealing Council, Consultation on Viking and Downe Manor schools under consideration, published 15 September 2026, for Councillor Blerina Hashani’s statement.
The decision is due on Tuesday 22 September. We will update this article when the council publishes the outcome.
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