PLANS have been lodged to transform former council offices into a new secondary school.

If approved, Future House on Bolling Road, the former home of Education Bradford, and then Bradford Council’s Children’s Services department, would become a new 600-pupil school called Bronte Girls Academy.

In 2016 the Department for Education gave the go ahead for the Feversham Education Trust to open an all girl’s academy in the city.

The site of the new school was revealed at the beginning of the year, but the planning application marks the next step forward in the new school becoming a reality.

Plans have also been submitted to demolish part of an existing warehouse and related works to create a new sports hall and outdoor play area. Improvements will be made to the separate car park which will be used by staff. It's hoped the work will be complete by July next year.

The application says: "There is both a quantitative and qualitative need to improve secondary education provision in Bradford.

"The city contains a relatively high proportion of under 16s; the population is growing and it is anticipated that there is an urgent need to provide additional secondary school places. Of the secondary schools that currently exist, the majority fall below the quality standards expected; exacerbating deprivation and disadvantage in parts of the city.

"The Feversham Education Trust, which will operate the proposed Bronte Girls School, has a strong track record of providing high quality education in the city; including one

of only two secondary schools rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted."

The application says it is anticipated that a "high proportion" of pupils entering the school will have reading levels at least two years behind their age.

It also says that because of the local demographic, it is likely the school's intake will have:

• A significantly higher percentage of free school meal pupils than the national average.

• Significantly more pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds than the national average.The application says the national average is 25 per cent, but research suggests the figure for the school will closer to 80 per cent.

• A likelihood that more than 60 per cent of pupils will speak English as an additional (second)language compared to 14 per cent nationally.

• Deprivation indicators which are double the national average.

The school will be one of a number opening in Bradford in the coming years. Last year the DfE granted permission to the Tauheedul Education Trust to open a Muslim faith school called Eden Boys’ Leadership Academy in the city.

New College Bradford, a post 16 college for 1,200 pupils will be built on a site off Nelson Street and open in September 2019 and the Dixons Academy chain also plans to open a sixth form college in 2019.