St Albans' Beaumont School will no longer reduce pupil intake

Beaumont School now has 240 spaces available for students thanks to funding from the local council

A school that had denied places to pupils living 500m away will now offer additional places from September.

Hertfordshire County Council has agreed to provide funding to support extra places at Beaumont School in St Albans.

Head teacher Martin Atkinson said he was "delighted" to continue offering 240 places at the school after it previously dropped down to 210.

Richard Roberts, leader of Hertfordshire County Council said he was pleased with the agreement.

The Conservative councillor said: "I'm pleased we've worked with the school, including consultation with the Department for Education, to come to an agreement for this year.

"We will continue to work with the school to be absolutely clear of the plan for the next academic school intake in 2025, and as they develop longer term plans with the Department for Education."

Richard Roberts, Conservative leader of the county council, said about 400 pupils sought a space at Beaumont which could only admit 210 a year

The school was rated as outstanding by Ofsted inspectors in 2014 and 400 pupils had put Beaumont as their first choice for September 2024.

In previous years, the school has welcomed 210 pupils but said they were asked by the council to increase that number to 240 to "accommodate a demographic bulge in the local area".

Parents who had moved closer to the school to secure a place were "devastated" they had been denied a place despite living only 1,640ft (500m) away.

The school said the additional places would be allocated towards the end of the week commencing 25 March.

Those parents who unsuccessfully applied would be automatically reconsidered and do not need to reapply.

Mr Arkinson said: "We are delighted that we can continue to offer outstanding opportunities to more students in our local area."

MP for St Albans, Daisy Cooper, said she had written an urgent letter to the Secretary of State for Education regarding the issue.

She said the change of decision would be a "huge relief to a number of families in the local area".