A POPULAR secondary school is set to expand to accommodate the growing number of pupils.

New Rickstones Academy in Witham was asked by Essex County Council to help resolve the predicted shortage of school places in the town in the coming years.

The authority’s ten-year plan identified a deficit in Year 7 places from 2021/2022 onwards.

As a result, the academy – which has gone from being undersubscribed to oversubscribed in the last three years – is expanding with more pupils and more classrooms.

From September 2022, the academy will increase its intake from 180 students a year to 240, bringing it in line with the majority of secondary schools in the area.

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Headteacher Damian Lee said the expansion is a testament to the quality of the school over the last few years.

Mr Lee said: “The increase in size will make New Rickstones comparable to most average-sized secondary schools.

“Other local high-performing schools have those numbers, so we are confident it is not going to be detrimental to the students.

“We understand the importance of managing the increase in the number of students we accommodate carefully, so our students are not compromised.”

“It is testament to the quality of our academy that we are now oversubscribed, having been heavily undersubscribed in the recent past.

“We have been on a massive journey of improvement in terms of academically and the behaviour of students. As a result, our numbers have increased significantly.”

To accommodate the extra pupils, the academy is set to be extended.

The two-storey extension will house two science laboratories, food technology rooms, two computer rooms and general teaching rooms.

Work on the extension, next to the sports hall, will start at the end of the school year and be completed by August 2022.