BANBURY School is to get a new £6m 28-classroom block to replace to replace buildings that no longer meet 21st-century teaching standards.

The new classrooms will be home to English, humanities, modern foreign languages, and business studies.

The block will include a dining hall, common room, and staff offices.

The existing Stanbridge Hall building on the school's campus will be sold to help fund the new building, but there are currently no firm proposals for redeveloping that site.

Oxfordshire County Council will provide about 90 per cent of the funding for the project from a government loan sanction and the sale of Stanbridge Hall will contribute a minimum of £500,000.

Michael Waine, the council's executive member for schools Improvement, said: "This is an exciting project that will significantly improve teaching facilities at Banbury School.

Banbury School principal Dr Fiona Hammans said: "This is fantastic news for the school, coming after some of the best exam results ever seen this summer. It is a brilliant way to start a new school year, and is the beginning of a new bright future for Banbury School."