The cost of a major expansion at a Norfolk school, to cope with soaring numbers of new homes, has shot up by £2m just as plans are about to be lodged. 

Education chiefs at Norfolk County Council are on the brink of submitting plans for the latest extension at Wymondham High Academy.

But rising inflation has pushed the price tag for the expansion of the secondary school up from the originally estimated £12.4m to £14.4m.

The academy, on Folly Road, currently has 1,650 pupils across its main school and sixth form.

Wymondham High AcademyWymondham High Academy (Image: Denise Bradley)

But with thousands of new homes in the pipeline for Wymondham and its surrounding areas, the school needs to expand.

READ MORE: New Rackheath secondary school could cost upwards of £70m

Children's services officers told a meeting of the Greater Norwich Growth Board - made up of representatives from the county council, South Norfolk Council, Broadland District Council and Norwich City Council - that the expansion plan to allow the school to take in about 150 extra pupils will soon be lodged.

Isabel Horner, sufficiency delivery manager in County Hall's children's services department, said it had been a "challenging project" as the first feasibility review of initial plans had shown it was not affordable.

However she said a suitable scheme had been devised and the new plans would be submitted this month.

The proposals, which include a new gymnasium and design and technology block, will see the site enlarge into a ten-form entry school welcoming 300 new pupils each year. 

The academy is currently a nine-form entry school with around 270 pupils in each cohort.

The project will also see a new teaching block built on the site, demolition of an existing block and a new multi-use games area.

READ MORE: Bird's-eye view shows new primary school progress

Meanwhile work has started on a new £11.5m primary school in neighbouring Silfield.

Earlier this year construction of the 420-place primary was delayed by a right of way dispute with a neighbouring landowner.

Work is now due to be completed by September 2025.