Division of Opinion on Religious Connection Delays School Merger

Published on: 13 Sep, 2026
Updated on: 13 Sep, 2026

Merrow Junior School Google

By James Moules

local democracy reporter

A proposed merger between two Surrey schools has been shelved after the potential religious affiliation of the new school divided opinion.

Surrey County Council had mulled plans to amalgamate Merrow Junior School and Merrow C of E Controlled Infant School owing to a drop in pupil numbers.

Cllr Helyn Clack

At a meeting this week, the council’s education lead Cllr Helyn Clack (Con: Dorking Rural) said: “In recent years, most local authorities across England, including Surrey, have experienced a significant fall in pupil numbers.”

But while the need for a merger to meet the collapse in student numbers was widely recognised, residents and campaign groups were divided over the potential religious links of the new institution.

Two periods of public consultation were held to sound out views on the proposed merger.

The first proposed combining the schools to form a new Merrow C of E Primary School, while the second sought views on two options to either set up a C of E school or a foundation primary school.

“Both consultations have demonstrated that the majority of respondents agree that an amalgamation would be a solution to the sustainability challenges currently faced by the schools due to falling pupil rolls,” the council officers’ report reads.

“However, opinions on the religious designation or otherwise of the resultant primary school remain deeply divided.”

Groups such as the National Secular Society (NSS) and Humanists UK had also voiced concerns over both schools being merged under the wing of a faith school.

Owing to this split in opinion, officers recommended that the plans for a direct merger be shelved – and that other options to address falling pupil numbers be explored.

Council officers told the meeting: “While respondents broadly agreed on the challenge and on the benefits of operating on one site, there was no clear consensus on how an amalgamation should be implemented in practice.”

They added that a favoured alternate option would be “to explore relocating the infant school onto the junior school so that both schools can operate from a shared building while retaining separate schools within the existing federation.”

The report reads: “Exploration of this co-location option… would mean that the federation, which operates both schools, could benefit from the savings associated with only maintaining and operating one building.

“It would also mean that the individual characteristics of both schools would be preserved without being detrimental to the financial sustainability of either school.”