New school needed says Reading MP Rob Wilson

A new secondary school is needed in Reading to meet a growing demand and to solve possible catchment problems, one of the town's MPs says.

Wokingham Council is looking at changing admittance rules for the popular Maiden Erlegh school.

If the plans are approved it may mean some children from Reading will no longer be allowed to attend the school.

Rob Wilson, Conservative MP for Reading East, said a new free school or academy would help ease the situation.

He said a new school was also needed to solve the growing demand on school places along the border between the boroughs of Wokingham and Reading.

'Ideal opportunity'

Mr Wilson said: "We have a lot of children who aren't being offered places at their local school and that is just going to increase as we move forward into the future.

"Both Reading and Wokingham need to think really carefully about the provision of secondary school places for their own children.

"It just seems to me that there's this ideal opportunity, with Thames Valley University gradually leaving Reading.

"There's an almost ready made school on that site available to either the local authority or as a free school or a faith school - whatever it might be.

"So there's an opportunity there to try and use that as a school to be there for provision in the future."

Councillor Mark Ralph, lead councillor for education and children's services at Reading Borough Council, said the idea of creating a new school on a site owned by Thames Valley University was a good one.