UP to 6,659 Oxfordshire children are being taught in ‘temporary’ classrooms – some of which date back to the 1960s and 1970s.

For the first time the Oxford Mail can reveal how many such classrooms are being used in schools across the county and their potential capacity.

As of May 2011, there were 83,091 pupils in Oxfordshire schools, meaning up to eight per cent of pupils are taught in temporary buildings.

In all, 104 county schools are currently using 273 classrooms in 166 temporary buildings.

And the problem is only expected to grow, with the primary age population expected to grow from 45,781 last May to 50,424 by 2015 and the secondary age population from 37,310 to 38,713 by 2017.

Glory Farm Primary School, Bicester, has temporary classrooms dating back to 1987.

But headteacher Paul Ducker said that did not mean they were unsuitable.

He said: “The term ‘temporary’ is emotive because there is this notion of it basically being a shed, but they are not. My temporary classrooms are as good as some permanent classrooms.”

The school previously had more temporary buildings to cater for a swelling population in the 1990s when the school had a roll of 650 pupils.

There are now about 440 children there, but problems could return.

Mr Ducker said: “We have a situation where we have pressure on our admission number but not enough to create a whole new class.

“If our admission number continued to rise each year, there would need to be an additional class built every year, and we don’t have the space.

Only six schools currently have a date set for their buildings to be replaced with permanent accommodation – The Grange and Bishop Loveday in Banbury, Fitzwaryn in Wantage, and Oxford’s Northern House, New Marston, and Wood Farm Primary, which is being completely rebuilt.

The new building at Northern House Special School, in Summertown, has been completed and pupils are set to move in after Easter.

Headteacher David Barker said: “One of the temporary buildings was of wooden construction and therefore prone to rot.

“We are very fortunate in this age of educational austerity to have been awarded the funds to develop this new classroom block.

“But at the end of the day, Jesus and Gandhi taught under a tree – good teaching can take place anywhere.”

Oxfordshire County Council spokesman Marcus Mabberley said the predicted rise in pupil numbers could mean more temporary classrooms were required.

He said the Government had restricted funding nationally for replacing temporary classrooms with permanent ones.

He said: “It is the responsibility of individual schools to maintain their temporary classrooms.

“Temporary classrooms are inspected to ensure that they are fit for purpose.”