Plans for a new off-shoot of Britain’s “strictest school” in Hertfordshire have been scrapped as there is no longer the “basic need” for extra school places.
The Department for Education gave Michaela Community School in Wembley approval three years ago to open a mixed 11 to 19 free school in Stevenage in 2023.
Plans for the 1,260 pupil school were even approved by Stevenage Borough Council planning committee this month.
But Michaela headteacher Katharine Birbalsingh, pictured, said today that Hertfordshire County Council had “made it clear that there is no need yet for a new school” as the town’s “current schools have enough places”.