Construction work begins on multi-million pound secondary school on edge of Northampton - rough completion date revealed

Construction work has begun on a brand new, multi-million pound secondary school for 1,200 students near Northampton.

The official ground breaking ceremony for Northampton School took place recently at the school’s new site off Thorpeville, near Moulton.

The school, for both boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 16, is being funded by the Government and run by Northampton School for Boys (NSB) Academy Trust, with no interference from the local authority, thus making it a 'free school'.

Matthew Edwards, headteacher designate for Northampton School, says he feels the former Wantage Farm site is ‘absolutely amazing’.

He said: “Only now that the builders are in situ and levelling the site can you get a real sense for how great the buildings and grounds will be when the school is finished in a wonderful rural setting.

"We can’t wait to get our new students onto site and using the brand new facilities.”

Mr Edwards said the Department for Education (DfE) and the site’s building contractors, Algeco, have confirmed that the school will be complete by summer 2024.

Until the school is complete, students starting in September 2023 will attend temporary accommodation at Northampton School For Boys in Billing Road.

A Northampton School for Boys (NSB) Academy Trust spokesman said: "The new school will help meet the significant additional need in the area for secondary school places due to growth in the town's primary school population and to the extensive new housing being built in and around Northampton."

According to Algeco, the published contract value for the site is £27.6million. An Algeco spokesman they have a ‘long track record of delivering large publicly funded projects like this’.

Plans to build the school were approved by WNC in February 2022 despite 104 letters of objections to the plans and only 11 letters of support.

Several sites were considered by the DfE but the 24-acre plot in Thorpeville, provided by West Northants Council (WNC), was deemed the most suitable.

WNC cabinet member for finance Malcolm Longley previously said: “We believe that providing this land is an excellent opportunity to secure a new school in an area where one is needed.”

The scheme will see the school leased to the provider on a 125-year agreement with a peppercorn rent.