Two of Ipswich's largest primary schools are each losing a reception class from next September as Suffolk's birth rate shows a fall.

Both Broke Hall Primary and Rushmere Hall Primary accepted 90 new pupils in September - a three class entry.

But next week's meeting of Suffolk County Council's cabinet will discuss a report which says that those schools will only take 60 reception pupils - a two class entry.

The UK birth rate is falling nationally - and this has been seen in parts of Ipswich.

A spokesman for Suffolk County Council said: "Pupil population is quite cyclical, we saw a bulge from 2012 for around five to six years and have in more recent years seen this reduce back to much lower levels, impacted by a reduction in birth rates.  

"The large housing growth across the county is bringing these figures up in some areas but in a lot of cases we will develop new schools to mitigate this demand and will do so with other local schools in mind so as not to exacerbate their falling rolls.

"Pupil forecasting is only for four years in the future, after that it is merely projections as the pupils are not born so are not able to say with any certainty when the number may increase once again.  

"We work closely with schools to consider any changes to Published Admission Number (PAN) to assist them with planning and financial forecasting."

The  news comes in the week that new figures from the Centre for Cities think tank showed that Ipswich is not growing as fast as most other urban areas in the UK.

There are three new primary schools, and a new high school, planned for the new Ipswich Garden Suburb on the northern fringe of the town.

Work has started there on Henley Gate -  but the new schools are not likely to be built until much later in the construction programme, probably not until the 2030s.