Suffolk County Council is in discussion with Northgate High School and Ormiston Endeavour to explore the possibility of expanding the schools to provide 600 extra student places across both sites.
Additional secondary school places are needed in north east Ipswich in response to new housing developments in the area, including the Ipswich Garden Suburb.
Early plans reveal that Ormiston Endeavour Academy, on Defoe Road, and Northgate High School, on Sidegate Lane, could both be expanded to accommodate additional students.
Expanding the existing schools, both rated as ‘good’ by Ofsted, would be in place of a new 600-place secondary school within the Ipswich Garden Suburb.
The design work has identified that the cost of building a new school is considerably more than initial estimates and would no longer be fully covered by the financial contributions from Ipswich Garden Suburb and other developments.
The new secondary school was likely to cost in excess of £30m. In comparison, the expansion cost of the two secondary schools is likely in the region of £20m – although more work is needed as only early-stage feasibility studies have been completed to date.
There is also concern that the falling birthrates seen across Suffolk, and nationally, means there may be insufficient students attending in the future and risks the school becoming financially unsustainable.
Cllr Andrew Reid, Cabinet Member for Education and SEND, at Suffolk County Council, said: “With all new housing, it is essential that we match the number of school places with the predicted number of children and young people that may move in and to cover future need.
"This may mean we build new schools or explore the feasibility of expanding existing schools.
“In this case, expanding Northgate and Ormiston Endeavour seems to be the best option.
"Not only is it more economical, but both schools would benefit from the funding from additional pupils - and the new students would benefit from a wider range of opportunities.”
It is estimated the new places will be available from 2027 – in time to accommodate the growing number of families moving into the Ipswich Garden Suburb and surrounding area.
In the meantime, both schools are working with Suffolk County Council to ensure there are sufficient secondary school places until the housing developments are complete.
The three primary schools planned for the Ipswich Garden Suburb are still on track to be built as the development progresses.
Ipswich Garden Suburb is on the northern fringe of Ipswich and will comprise approximately 3,500 new homes, if all planning applications are successful.
The wider development is made up of three areas of land, each one involving different developers delivering around 1,000 dwellings on each. These are Henley Gate, Fonnereau and Red House. The development is due to be build out over the next 20 years.
The secondary school was planned to be built on the third site at Red House. Planning permission has not yet been granted to the Red House site.
Northgate High School is a 1,260-place school with a sixth form. The school is one of only three remaining local authority maintained secondary schools and is rated ‘good’ by Ofsted.
Ormiston Endeavour Academy is a 900-place school run by Ormiston Academy Trust and is also rated ‘good’ by Ofsted.
