1,000-pupil school to ease places crisis

A 1,000-pupil school is set to be built to tackle soaring demand for places at some of London's best state secondaries.

The school in Kingston could help ease pressure on popular institutions such as Tiffin Girls' and Boys' grammars, which are hugely oversubscribed every year.

Kingston council was forced to order primaries to expand after an influx of children to the area caused a school places crisis in the summer. The council predicted these extra pupils would mean a new secondary would be necessary by 2013.

Figures from across London show that one in three families failed to win places at their first-choice secondary schools this year. The economic downturn is said to have intensified competition for the most popular ones in the state sector. Thousands of parents who would otherwise pay to go private are trying to save on expensive fees by applying for grammar schools.

Councillors are still to decide whether the new school in Kingston will be a community comprehensive or an academy. It will be part of a £100 million scheme that would see renovation and reorganisation across all the borough's secondaries, using cash from the Government's £45 billion rebuilding programme.

●Southborough High School and Tolworth Girls' School will be rebuilt on one site.

●Kingston's two pupil referral units for disruptive children will be moved on to school sites.

●Coombe Boys' School and The Hollyfield School will be remodelled, and the remaining secondaries in the borough will be reorganised by 2016. Patricia Bamford, executive member for children's services on Kingston council, said: "The entire community would benefit from the improved facilities.

"This is a tremendous opportunity to remodel education in the royal borough and secure sustainable improvement in our secondary schools, to increase parental choice and meet the increasing demand for places."

She acknowledged there had been "a great deal of debate" about the need for a new secondary, adding: "There has been a significant increase in the number of pupils entering the state education system in Kingston over the last couple of years."

Councillors will decide whether to back the plan at a meeting on Tuesday.