Education chiefs have voiced particular concerns that those with just one or two classes could be in peril as the number of children in the county's education system are forecast to fall.

By the 2027 reception intake, pupil numbers will have dropped from nearly 10,000 in the current Year 8 to fewer than 7,000, according to forecasts.

And, with school funding directly linked to the number on roll, that slump could be a hammer blow for some of Norfolk's smaller schools, particularly in rural areas.

Education bosses at Norfolk County Council previously revealed they would be holding talks with schools about how to plan for the decline and warned some schools could shut.

But they have now revealed further details about the schools that they are most concerned about.

Officers say schools with just one class are "unlikely to be sustainable" and that those with two classes might need to be restructured to survive.

A number of Norfolk's smaller schools only have one or two classes, with some schools mixing year groups to create them.

But the council says it would "not encourage solutions that result in more than three year groups being taught together".

Cantley Primary School(Image: Denise Bradley)

Cantley Primary School recently closed and merged with Freethorpe Primary School because no new pupils had enrolled.

Brancaster Primary School, near Hunstanton, recently merged with Docking Primary School because of falling........

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