A SECOND bid for a new arts academy in Iver has been submitted to the Department for Education.

Heatherden Hall Arts Academy submitted its free school application on Friday last week, and expects to hear whether it has been successful in December.

Wendy Matthews, chairman of the school working party, said: “We are very excited about this one having got this far.

“We have got quite a lot of local support, and I think that has been reflected in our bid.

“We will keep engaging with people and hope that everything goes OK. We are as confident as we can be but it is a competition – we have to be realistic about it.” The academy will be focused on the arts, and would be the first secondary school in Iver since 1989 when Evreham County Secondary School, formerly based in Swallow Street, closed.

An original application was turned down early last year.

The school, planned to open in September 2017, would provide secondary education for 900 pupils from Langley and Iver junior schools.

For more information, visit www.heatherdenhall.co.uk