A £30M secondary school capable of accommodating up to 1,200 pupils is set to be built in Grove.

The school would be based at the former Grove airfield to cope with proposals for thousands of homes in the area.

Cabinet members at Oxfordshire County Council discussed the plans last night after officers recommended that a new secondary school and sixth form should be built before housing developments at the former airfield and the north-east of Wantage went ahead.

A total of 5,200 homes have been proposed for the area, including 1,500 in north-east Wantage and 2,500 at the former airfield.

In 2007, it was announced a school for 600 pupils was to be built, but that figure has been revised after the Government increased housing targets.

In addition, the mixture of different types of homes on the airfield site has changed, so that more families with secondary school age children are expected.

The plans also involve the current three-site King Alfred Community and Sports College being accommodated on two sites and its capacity reduced from 2,250 places to 1,900. Currently, there are 500 surplus places at the college.

Zoe Patrick, county councillor for Grove and Wantage, said she was thrilled at the news.

She said: “This is fantastic news and something the people of Wantage and Grove have wanted for years.

“When the original plans for a 600-pupil school were announced, I said it wasn’t big enough.

“Over the years, children in Grove have had to travel two-and-a-half miles to get to school.

“When my daughter was at school, walking to King Alfred’s, it was not good, especially with dark mornings and evening. With the proposed boost in housing, this is exactly what’s needed.

“The other thing is that the community will be able to use the facilities, which will be a huge benefit. I just hope it will be built prior to any major development going ahead.”

A report prepared for the council cabinet meeting by officers said the school could increase to accommodate 1,200 pupils and would be based on a ten-hectare site.

Michael Waine, the council’s cabinet member for Schools improvement, said a new school was crucial to the area.

He said: “The idea for an even bigger school at Grove is our direct response to the plan for even more housing in this part of Oxfordshire.

“It would be a strong school that would help cater for the forecast additional pupil numbers. We very much want to work in concert with King Alfred’s college. King Alfred’s remains very much part of the equation in our future plans in the Wantage and Grove area.”

The county council will seek money from the Government's Building Schools for the Future fund to help pay for the changes to King Alfred’s college.

Two years ago, county councillors decided to build a 600-place, 11-16 secondary school at Grove, rejecting two other options — two equal-sized 1,250-place schools in Wantage and Grove or expanding King Alfred’s Community and Sports College to 2,500 pupils on two sites. King Alfred’s favoured the latter option, while polls of residents and parents showed they preferred the former.

However, with 1,500 extra homes now set to be built in north-east Wantage, the county council now believes that a 1,200-place school will now be needed.