Canterbury Christ Church University has revealed plans to open a new secondary free school on the site of the former Chaucer School in the city

It will be non-selective, cater for pupils aged between 11 and 18 and be one of just a handful of university training schools in the country.

A bid will be made to the Department for Education in September this year with a view to opening in September 2019.

Christ Church bosses say it will become a centre of excellence in teaching and learning, using university-led teacher development for new and continuing teachers.

Vice chancellor, Prof Rama Thirunamachandran, said: "Our university’s longstanding commitment to the education of children and young people lies at the core of our mission of transforming lives and communities.

"Opening a university-governed school in Canterbury would enable us to add directly to the city’s capacity to provide for the needs of its young people.

"We are planning to provide an education that prepares our school students both for employment or higher education and for fulfilled lives contributing to society.”

All teaching staff will be qualified teachers and responsibility for each class will always remain with its qualified teacher.

However, the school will host training places for student teachers who will act as an extra resource for the pupils, keeping the pupil to adult ratio low.

Another distinctive feature of the school will be a close connection between its subject departments and university subject experts, where Christ Church academics will be able to add value to the school by giving expert lectures and presentations or ideas for curriculum study.

Offering a broad and distinctive curriculum, the school will help with progression routes for pupils into employment and higher education, making use of the wide range of subject expertise in the university.

Dr John Moss, dean of education, said: "Canterbury Christ Church University was founded in 1962 as a teacher training college.

"Working with hundreds of partner schools, for over 50 years we are one of the country’s leading institutions for the development of new and serving teachers.

"Our commitment to local and regional schools and their pupils is at the core of our work.

"We believe in the power of education to make a transformative difference in the lives of young people and we are passionate about acting on that belief.

"Starting a new school is a decisive commitment to that vision.”

Graham Birrell, who is leading the project, said: “There will soon be a shortfall of secondary places in the city, so we have worked with our partner schools to produce an exciting proposal for the pupils of Canterbury.

"We have been inspired by university schools from around the world, particularly in Finland, which we visited with head teachers from local schools, and which has one of the best education systems in the world."

The university is a holding a public consultation on the proposals including a public meeting at the university at 7pm on Thursday, September 15, in the Michael Berry lecture theatre in the Old Sessions House.