A SECONDARY school in Hampshire is being considered for a £13.5m expansion to increase its capacity.

Alderwood Senior School, in Aldershot, could expand by 300 places as a result of the upgrade.

The senior school currently has 866 pupils on roll, with the proposed expansion, which includes 12 new classrooms, adding two classes in each year group, increasing the school's capacity to 1,150.

Alderwood, which is part of the all-through Alderwood Foundation, is currently rated 'good' by Ofsted. The school says it fully supports the plans, as it is facing increased demand for places due to housing developments in the area.

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Basingstoke Gazette: Sketch of the proposed building

If approved, a new two-storey building would include two dedicated classrooms for technology subjects, a textiles classroom, a graphics classroom, three new science classrooms, five general teaching classrooms as well as staff offices and meeting rooms. Additionally, the project would include the reroofing and refurbishment of the existing science block.

To accommodate the new building, the proposed project would see the demolition of the school’s existing single-storey specialist teaching block.

A planning application will be submitted in late March, with a decision expected in May.

The project cost of £13.5m is included in the Children’s Services Capital Programme, which was approved by the council's executive lead member for children’s services, Cllr Edward Heron, on January 19. The majority of the funding comes from developer contributions.