An application to build a new secondary school in Stevenage will be submitted to the Department for Education next month.

If approved, the proposed Michaela Community School will form a not-for-profit multi-academy trust with a target opening date of 2023, although a site for the school has yet to be determined.

It will be a non-denominational, non-fee paying mixed free school for 11 to 19 year olds.

Michaela plans to open with an intake of 180 Year 7 students, growing with the same intake each year. At full capacity, the school will have 1,260 pupils.

A new school would help meet the accelerating need for secondary school places in the growing town.

If the application is approved by the Department for Education, one of the first tasks of the Education and Skills Funding Agency will be to secure a suitable site.

The new school will follow the model established by the Michaela Community School in Wembley Park, which opened in September 2014 and was graded outstanding in all areas by Ofsted in May 2017.

Katharine Birbalsingh, headteacher at Michaela in Wembley Park, said: “Our proposal follows extensive engagement with the local authority and we will continue to seek the views of prospective parents, students and stakeholders prior to submitting our application, giving them the opportunity to help shape the school so that it meets the needs and ambitions of the community it will serve.”

Parents and members of the wider community are currently being asked to have their say, especially if they currently have children in Year 2 or below, who will be due to start secondary school from 2023.

They can do this via a short form on the Have Your Say page of the school’s website mcsstevenage.co.uk.

Michaela is also holding a drop-in event to share information and collect views.

The event is being held at The Shephall Centre in Stevenage’s Shephall Green on Monday, from 12.30pm to 6.30pm. Visit the events page of the school’s website and select a time slot to register.

For more about the proposal, visit mcsstevenage.co.uk. You can also find the school on Facebook and Twitter @MCSstevenage.