Corby MP says he will press Government for delivery of long-awaited secondary school

Corby's MP says he will press the Government on a delivery date for the free school that was announced with a fanfare almost three years ago.

Corby’s MP has said he will press for the town’s new free school to be built as soon as possible.

This week it was made public that Corby Technical School is expected to have a £1.2m extension to take on an extra 84 Year 7 pupils this September because of a shortage of secondary places in the rapidly growing town. Its sister school Brooke Weston Academy will also add six Year 7 places.

Bulge classes are having to be added because the free school which was announced by the government back in April 2017 is still not coming forward and the local education authority now says it will not open before September 2022. When announced the original plan was to open the school this coming September.

A 1.2m extension is proposed for Corby Technical School due to a shortage of places for Year 7 pupils.

It is understood there have been land procurement issues and a definite site has not been secured. Cambridge Meredian Academies Trust has been appointed to run the free school however the finances of how the build will be paid for are unclear. Part of the funding may come from developer contributions as the town.

Now the town’s MP Tom Pursglove has said he will continue to put pressure on the Government and the education authority to get the school built.

He said: “As a rapidly growing town, ensuring that school places keep up with the housing growth we are seeing is vitally important. With that in mind, the Government is significantly increasing school funding for each and every pupil in our area, as part of its national commitment to boosting school funding. In recent years we have also seen the doubling in size of Corby Technical School for example, to help bring on stream more secondary places, along with the creation of new primary schools.

“Clearly, the new free school is an important source of future new school places and I will continue to press both the local authority and the Department for Education for completion of this project as soon as possible. Given the ongoing interest of the Schools Minister in improving standards across Northamptonshire, I am confident he will be willing to meet to discuss this further.”

A Department for Education Spokesperson said: “We are committed to delivering Corby Secondary free school and are working with the local authority and the local planning authority to this end.

“We will continue to update local stakeholders as the project develops.”

Northamptonshire county council's cabinet will decide on Tuesday whether to approve the £1.2m extension.

Corby is one of the the fastest growing towns in the country. Thousands of homes are being built at Priors Hall and the Corby West development of four thousand more was approved last year.