As demand for secondary schools in St Albans increases, plans are being made for additional places to be made permanently available at two academies.

As part of that plan, from September 2024 onwards there would be 30 extra Year 7 places available at the Samuel Ryder Academy.

There would also be a further 28 places available at Marlborough Science Academy.

Herts Advertiser: Marlborough Science AcademyMarlborough Science Academy (Image: Google)

The plans were highlighted at a meeting of the county council’s cabinet on Monday (December 4), where councillors agreed the capital funding ‘to deliver additional secondary school places’.

Details of the amount of capital funding involved for the specific projects were discussed in a part of the meeting held in private.

But presenting the proposal in public, executive member for education, libraries and lifelong learning Cllr Caroline Clapper pointed to the "extra demand specifically in St Albans".

“Most of our schools in St Albans are fully at capacity – so there are limited options,” she said.

“So, we are very pleased to be able to provide this additional spacing here.”

Herts Advertiser: Samuel Ryder AcademySamuel Ryder Academy (Image: Google)

Cllr Clapper said both schools were in support of the proposal, which would be funded through basic need funding and ‘section 106’ monies.

Section 106 funds are collected from developers in order to mitigate the impact of a particular development on an area.

According to the report presented to the cabinet, demand for primary school places in St Albans has  risen ‘significantly’ over the past decade – with hundreds of additional places already made available.

The report says Samuel Ryder and Marlborough Science academies are the most suitable secondary schools for permanent expansion.

As academies, the schools will deliver the capital projects themselves – with the county council entering into funding agreements with the individual academies.