It will sit in the heart of Oxford, yet a proposed free school could be the first in England to teach a Scottish curriculum.

Oxford New School will today launch a consultation on its plans, which would see pupils sitting Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers alongside GCSEs and A-Levels.

And the city is in line for a free school revolution with another proposed new secondary school teaching boys and girls separately.

Oxford Pillars School, which would open in Marston in 2013 or 2014 if it wins Ministerial backing, would separate the sexes and cap class sizes at 25.

Both projects have been launched to tackle what backers say is the city’s educational underachievement.

Under the coalition Government’s flagship education policy, parents, teachers or charities can open state-funded independent schools if they can demonstrate there is parental demand.

Oxford New School is the brainchild of educational consultant Eylan Ezekiel, who is in negotiations with the Scottish Government to adapt the country’s Cational Curriculum for Excellence so it can be taught south of the border.

He said it was better than the English equivalent at teaching modern skills alongside traditional subjects.

Mr Ezekiel said: “It is a modern curriculum for the kids we have got in front of us, not the ones we had 15 years ago.”

From today parents will be able to give their views on the project in an online survey at onschool.org.uk Parents will be asked whether they would list 375-pupil Oxford New School as their first choice if it wins Government backing.

Mr Ezekiel said supporting the bid would not bind parents’ decisions.

He said the school would help create a new choice for parents in OX1 and OX4 postcodes, adding: “We are focusing on the south of the city, from the city centre down to Redbridge. There are a number of sites suitable in that area.”

Public events will be held in the new year to present the plans to interested parents.

If ministers back the proposal, it would open in September 2013 with 160 pupils spread across Years Seven to Nine.

Meanwhile, the group of teachers behind the 400-pupil Oxford Pillars School are deciding whether to apply for a 2013 or 2014 opening.

Earlier this year their first bid to open a school with an Islamic ethos was rejected, with ministers saying they needed to demonstrate parent demand and more detailed financial plans. Now the group has dropped the religious aspect, but still wants to separate boys and girls to boost results.

They are negotiating over an as-yet unrevealed site in Marston.

Teacher Shabnam Sabir said: “So much more can be done for kids in Oxford.

“Standards are not high enough and expectations are not high enough. We believe we can deliver more for less. We do not need fancy buildings, but the right teachers who want their kids to do well.