A secondary school is set for a £7million expansion to reflect growing demand for places.

Kent County Council’s (KCC) Children, Young People and Education cabinet committee has been discussing plans for New Line Learning Academy (NLLA) in Maidstone to increase capacity.

This will involve building works at its Boughton Lane site, although no details of the plans are yet available.

The Future Schools Trust, which runs NLLA, needs to raise its admission levels from 180 pupils to 210 from September 2025 to meet the forecast demand.

The Tiger Primary School, which also occupies space on the NLLA site, will be part of the changes and, according to KCC papers, “this scheme will include new teaching accommodation on the Tiger site to reprovision the primary school space within New Line Learning”.

The council’s Commissioning Plan for Education Provision (KCP) is part of its Securing Kent’s Future objective.

The KCC papers state: “The KCP highlights significant demand for additional places in the Maidstone non-selective planning group over the coming years.

“Therefore, the proposed expansion to New Line Learning is necessary for KCC to continue to deliver its statutory duty, in a cost-effective way, in line with the guidelines described in the Securing Kent's Future strategy.

“It will help to maintain KCC’s strategic role in supporting schools in Kent to deliver accessible, high quality education provision for all families.”

When it was published, the KCP noted that the birth rate dropped sharply in 2019 and 2020, in line with the national and county trends.

KCC member for the area, Cllr Paul Cooper has been consulted about the plans.

Options for expansion at other schools in the area are limited.

The report notes: “The short to medium term expansion options within existing Maidstone schools are limited, with two of the town centre schools having already expanded in recent years, whilst others are constrained by site and infrastructure limitations.

“KCC is working with a number of schools within the planning group to formulate expansion proposals over the coming years and New Line Learning is the first scheme to proceed to the detailed feasibility stage.”

It adds: “It is proposed that the first phase of works will be a school managed scheme, with the roles and responsibilities of each party formally set out through a legal contract between KCC and New Line Learning.

“KCC will monitor progress regularly during the building works to ensure that the accommodation needs are being met.”

NLLA was contacted for comment.