WORK is set to begin on a major extension at a Plymouth school, as a project years in the making comes to life.
Plymstock School has what is thought to be the biggest sixth form in the city – and has been running out of room.
Its A Level classes have doubled in size since the Government brought in new education rules.
The Church Road school has wanted to expand in size for several years with the addition of new buildings.
External funding bids have failed but, despite being smaller than chiefs would have liked, headteacher David Farmer said the new classrooms would "make a difference".
Plymouth City Council has now given the school the formal green light to begin work on the extension after planning officers approved the designs.
The work will see two new classrooms added to the school's existing sixth form block.
They will be used for A Level teaching, as well as for after-school clubs.
Mr Farmer said the school submitted its final plans in the wake of post-16 class sizes almost doubling.
They went from an average of between 12 and 14 students to between 22 and 25 after the Government raised the age of school participation in September last year.
This is the second academic year to see teenagers up to the age of 18 legally required to stay in education, training or get a job with accredited training as part of the policy.
Mr Farmer previously told The Herald how the project was much smaller than initially anticipated, as the school will have to directly fund the work itself following three unsuccessful bids for funding.
"This is something we've wanted to do for years," he said.
"We were always been quite tight for space in the past in post-16 anyway and we probably have the biggest sixth form in Plymouth.
"We haven't been able to get external funding to do it so it is a much smaller project than we would have wanted but it will still make a difference."
The building work will involve an extension to the first floor of the school's sixth form block and access to the building will remain the same.
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