PLANS for a new secondary school in Didcot have got the go-ahead.

Oxfordshire County Council agreed on Tuesday to build a new school in the town to cope with its expanding population.

Experts predict 850 more secondary school places will be needed in Didcot by 2013 -and an additional 700 by 2020.

Didcot has two secondary schools at present, St Birinus School in Mereland Road and Didcot Girls' School in Manor Crescent.

Both are single-sex schools with limited capacity to expand and the county council is obliged to provide parents in Didcot with the option of sending their children to a mixed school.

The new school has been earmarked for the planned Great Western Park housing development on the western edge of Didcot.

County councillor Michael Waine, cabinet member for schools improvement, said: "Our duty is to provide parental choice. Didcot is an expanding town and we need to have the facilities in place to help the town cope."

The new school must include provision for students to undertake diplomas involving practical skills, vocational subjects and work experience, as well as GCSEs, the county council said.

By law, every new educational facility for pupils under 16 must be open to bidders to give other people or interested parties, such as universities, religious groups, charities and nearby schools, the opportunity to build and run the school.

Paula Taylor-Moore, headteacher of Didcot Girls' School, said she and Chris Bryan, the head of St Birinus School, would consider putting in a bid for the school.

Both headteachers championed proposals two years ago for a £16.8m 'Learning Park' to provide new school places for 600 children on the Great Western Park development.

That would provide facilities for 14 to 19-year-olds, including sixth form provision and vocational courses, and if went ahead, would be one of the first vocational training centres in the country.

She said: "Myself and Chris would consider putting in a bid for one of the schools, as could anyone else. We want to get the best for children in Didcot and we have lots of experience running schools.

"We have got a vision for education in Didcot and that can include something new, different and innovative."

Mr Bryan said: "Whatever decision is made needs to be in the best interests of young people in the Didcot area, and to meet the needs of the 21st century. Whether a small secondary school will meet that need is questionable."

The county council will choose the preferred bid and councillors have not ruled out bidding to build the facility themselves.

Mr Waine said: "If we hit a point where the competition process doesn't look likely to give the quality of establishment that we would hope for, then we would have to consider our position. At the moment we are stepping back."