New College

The future of Leicester's New College is looking even brighter. The Lib Dem city council has announced that millions of pounds are to be spent on re-building the college to provide a state-of-the art school and community facility.

New Parks Lib Dem Councillor, Cllr Tricia Beck said, "The transformation at New College has been remarkable, and the efforts of staff, pupils and parents are to be applauded. New College has come a very long way, and has an even brighter future ahead of it".

Jane Brown, Principal of New College said: "We are pleased for our students and staff that our progress has been recognised. This gives us an opportunity to sustain our improvement, working in close partnership with the local authority, other schools and our community.

Cllr Roger Blackmore, leader of the Lib Dem led city council said: "I am absolutely delighted that New College can now look forward to a new and exciting future. I want to say a special thank you to all those students and staff who have worked so impressively to transform its fortunes".

Although the details are still being worked on by the council, it's likely that the older parts of the school will be re-built, and new, state-of-the art facilities created.

Designs would start to be drawn up in May. And the council will need to submit design proposals to the government in May, when it will confirm the exact amount of funding available.

Work could start on site in April next year, with the new facilities completed by October 2009.

Launched in Leicester in 2005, Building Schools for the Future is a £235 million initiative to transform secondary schools. The funding for New College will come on top of the funding already allocated to city schools.