BRADFORD'S school shake-up will go ahead in full after the Council received approval to plug its £47 million funding gap.

The massive £171 million project will switch the district from a three to a two-tier education system replacing the first, middle and upper school system with primary and secondary schools.

The Department for Education and Employment this week gave approval to borrow an extra £23 million and the rest of the cash will be made up from the sale of council land or property and procurement savings, delivered by the buying power of a managing partner brought in to carry out the construction programme.

The news ends months of uncertainty after the council admitted underestimating the cost of the shake-up when calculating its bid for Government funding.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.