A CONSULTATION has been launched by Dawlish College about plans to rebuild and expand capacity.

The college has been included on the Department for Education’s School Rebuilding Programme following the closure of the Parker Block due to health and safety concerns.

The block contained five classrooms, with a capacity for 150 students, and its closure reduced the college’s funding.

That has meant the college’s funding agreement was lowered from 900 students to 750.

But the forthcoming rebuild is aimed at restoring the teaching capacity.

No exact details of what the rebuild will involve have been announced.

The college, which is part of the Ivy Education Trust, says it will ‘provide modern, energy-efficient facilities designed to return the school capacity to accommodate up to 900 students.

Reinstating the college to its full capacity will, the trust says, meet local demand for secondary school places; support continuity of education for pupils from local primary schools; improve curriculum breadth and specialist teaching provision and ensure long-term financial and educational sustainability.

The DfE has confirmed the college is part of the programme, launched in 2020, and that schools are prioritised according to the urgency of need at the school.

The programme targets investment at the schools and college buildings considered to be in the worst condition.

A DfE spokesman said: ‘Once a school enters delivery, a project team will carry out a feasibility study which will determine the scope of the works.

‘Once a school enters delivery, SRP projects take on average three to five years to complete.

‘Dawlish is in delivery and further details will be confirmed in due course.’

The college has now launched a consultation which launched on November 14 and will run until December 5.

Two events are also being held on Tuesday November 25 and Thursday November 27 between 5pm and 6pm.