TEENAGERS in Clevedon could be studying in new modern facilities from next year.

Clevedon School has submitted a planning application to create a new sixth form block at its Valley Road site.

To include private study spaces, a common room, a conference room and administration areas, it will be installed using just less than �300,000 from the Government’s Education Funding Agency.

The pre-fabricated, single-storey Elliott building will be sited on land previously home to an old science block.

It is being installed to allow the school to provide modern facilities for its growing sixth form, which has seen its numbers rise from about 130 five years ago to the current figure of about 210.

Headteacher John Wells said: “The sixth form has been growing over the years.

“We did some refurbishment about three years ago in the main block but that was still only two rooms.

“We need more space for pupils’ private study.

“There are criteria attached to the funding which mean we have to spend it by April next year.

“We are hopeful that because of the nature of the building, we will have something in place in February.

“This will be a high-quality, high-spec building.”

As Clevedon School continues to attract more teenagers to its sixth form, it is also working to increase the range of courses it can offer for A-level and BTEC qualifications.

Mr Wells added: “We recently held our sixth form open evening and were very pleased that as well as Clevedon students, there were also many others from the Bristol area.

“This new building will allow us to take on more sixth form pupils and the wider range of courses will also allow us to offer tailor-made packages for each pupil.”