An Oxfordshire school is planning an expansion to meet the increasing demand for places. 

Heyford Park School near Bicester has submitted the scheme to Cherwell District Council and is an ‘all-through’ academy, teaching pupils aged three to 16 on two sites. 

The proposal is to relocate the primary school to the Specialism Campus, allowing more pupils to attend the secondary school at the Officer’s Mess site.

Oxfordshire County Council has said the school needs to provide 150 more places due to the construction of housing developments nearby. 

The planning application includes access, landscaping, biodiversity enhancements, drainage, cycle parking, re-instatement of a redundant car park and the construction of new fencing.

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So far no public comments in objection or support have been submitted. 

In the planning documents, it said that the school, originally created in 2013, is undersized and has insufficient capacity to meet the demands of the local community.

The planning statement said: “The secondary provision at Heyford Park School needs to expand by one form of entry to meet the demand for additional pupil places from new and planned local housing development.

“It is proposed to relocate the primary school to the Specialism Campus, thereby allowing a greater amount of secondary provision to be provided at the officer’s mess site.

"The secondary school would continue to use the Specialism Campus for sporting activities only, significantly reducing the need for large numbers of pupils to move between the two sites with significant operational, timetabling and safeguarding benefits for the school and its pupils. 

“The proposal has significant educational and operational benefits for the school by rationalising and consolidating the secondary (11-16) provision that is currently split and provided across two sites.

“The planning application seeks consent for a new single storey extension to the existing specialism campus building and associated landscaping.

"The additional accommodation is required to relocate the primary school from the Officer's Mess campus to the Specialism Campus, and to allow the secondary accommodation and pupil places to expand at the officer's mess.”

It added: “The proposals are considered to be a key part of meeting the schools wider objectives and development, and to meet the increasing demand for pupil places arising from residential development in the surrounding area and from the continued expansion of Heyford Park.

“Alongside providing additional pupil places, the proposals will provide other significant educational and operational benefits.

"Relocating the primary school, and maximising the 11-16 accommodation at the officer's mess, will allow for more efficient running of both schools.

"Nursery and early years would be situated adjacent to each other and it would significantly reduce the need for secondary school pupils to travel from one site to the other during the school day.”

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About the author  

Toby is a senior reporter who has a particular interest in covering planning and local government. 

He joined in September 2024 having been a reporter at the Hampshire Chronicle for three years. 

Toby studied at the University of Brighton and can be found on X through the handle @JournoToby