Newly-built school to open on former college site

The new Bluecoat Trent Academy site will include a sports hall, gym/dance studio and a lecture theatre

A new free school will move from temporary accommodation to a new purpose-built site on Wednesday.

Bluecoat Trent Academy has been built on the former site of Clarendon College in Mansfield Road, Nottingham, and has capacity for 1,200 pupils.

The school opened in a temporary home at Bluecoat Aspley Academy in September 2021 for Year 7 pupils and was rated Good by Ofsted following an inspection in January 2024.

It is part of the Archway Learning Trust, which said a total of £30m has been invested into the new school over the eight years of planning and construction.

The development aims to help with provision for secondary school places in the Sherwood, Mapperley, Forest Fields and Hyson Green areas.

A new Year 7 intake of 240 pupils will move into the new school, along with 660 from the temporary site.

The school is partly named after Nottingham Trent University, due to its partnership with the trust, which involves a mentoring and outreach programme.

Sian Hampton, CEO of Archway Learning Trust, said: “We are very privileged to be able to open this new school in the heart of the city, and it has been so encouraging to receive such widespread support from our communities.

"This is home ground for us, and we have recognised the need for this provision for some time."

The trust said it hoped the new site would be open in 2021, but the impact of Covid and a number of construction delays postponed its opening.

Claire McManus, the school's principal, said: “It’s fantastic for us all to see all the plans come to fruition, and the teaching staff are all very excited to be providing the highest quality learning in this new state-of-the-art facility."

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