News

Formal plans submitted for £10 million school expansion

By Lauren Monaghan, Junior Local Democracy Reporter

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Formal plans for a multi-million pound expansion of a Nottingham secondary school have been submitted to the city council.

Back in July 2024, Nottingham City Council approved the £10.3 million expansion of Bluecoat Wollaton Academy in Sutton Passeys Crescent, Wollaton.

The development will create space for 300 extra pupils at the school.

Cllr Ethan Radford, the deputy leader of the council, said at the time there had been a 32 per cent increase in demand for secondary school places.

Pressures on pupil places is expected to continue up to 2029.

Formal plans for the school’s expansion were formally submitted today (March 27).

The proposed extension includes a three-court indoor sports hall with storage, changing facilities and toilets along with 12 classrooms to accommodate for the extra pupil intake.

The new multi-purpose building will be built on the site of an existing car park.

Parking space improvements are also included, with 17 at the front and an extra 38 in the north-east corner of the site, with access from Sutton Passeys Crescent, giving 55 spaces in total.

The school enrolled more pupils in September 2024 than it did in 2023.

According to the council, the school is “significantly oversubscribed” and temporary classrooms have been set up to accommodate the 300 extra pupils between September 2024 to September 2026.

The temporary classrooms cost £685,000, with money coming from the school’s Archway Learning Trust, and housing developer contributions.

The expansion project will be paid for using money from the Basic Need Fund and a contribution from the trust.

Inspections at the school in October 2024 by Watchdog Ofsted said the school had maintained the ‘outstanding’ standards identified at a previous visit.

The plans are subject to council approval at a later date, with the work expected to be completed by, and the school to open, in September 2026.