Sixteen new classrooms will be built at a Canterbury grammar school as part of a £6.1 million redevelopment, it has been confirmed.

Simon Langton Boys will benefit from a state-of-the-art expansion as part of its biggest regeneration in years.

Nine mobile classrooms currently at the Nackington Road site are in a “rotten” state and will only last one more winter before falling into total disrepair.

The much-needed project comes as the school prepares to take on an extra 30 pupils each year from September 2022 - resulting in the annual number of Year 7 places increasing from 120 to 150.

Due to increased housebuilding in the city and neighbouring districts, student numbers at the school are expected to reach 1,250 by 2024.

As it stands, the capacity is significantly lower at 947 - meaning the additional 16 classrooms is an essential requirement.

Head teacher Ken Moffat is confident the two-storey teaching block can see the school “through the next 50 years at least”.

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Kent County Council, which is going to finance the entire scheme, submitted the proposals to its own planning department on the school’s behalf earlier this year.

And now, the authority has rubber-stamped the project - paving the way for work, which is expected to finish next spring, to begin imminently.

The rundown mobile classrooms will be dismantled and removed from school grounds after the completion of the replacement teaching block.

Thirteen of the new classrooms will be standard teaching spaces, while the other three will be ICT suites.

The dining hall will also be extended as part of the project, and 28 new parking spaces will be created, along with a bus turning area.

The expansion, designed by Clague Architects, will result in admission numbers at the two Langton schools becoming more aligned. Earlier this year, work on the £20 million rebuild of the Girls' site was completed and the old school pulled down.

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