ONE of Kent’s poorest secondary schools could be demolished to make way for a state-of-the-art £25million academy for 11-to-18-year-olds.

County education chiefs have announced they are to carry out a feasibility study into replacing The Ramsgate School with an independent academy, to be open by September 2005.

Kent County Council is to team up with the Kent-based holiday company The Saga Group, which has said it will act as a private sponsor. Ministers have agreed to spend £250,000 on an initial study and there will be extra cash from Saga.

If the idea does get Government approval, it could help transform what has, for some years, been one of the county’s most troubled schools.

Under a Government initiative, academies are publicly-funded schools with private-sector sponsors. They are allowed greater freedom to arrange their curriculum and time-table.

Although they remain part of the state education system, ties with the education authority are broken and funding comes direct from the Government.

The news has been welcomed by KCC. Cllr Paul Carter (Con), cabinet member for education, said: “This is most exciting news. This is a huge vote of confidence in our drive to create a centre of excellence for educational and community activities in Ramsgate. If successful, this will completely transform educational opportunities for the whole community.”

The existing school buildings would be demolished and replaced by an entirely new school on the existing site.

Headteacher Neil Hunt said the scheme offered the best chance of transforming the school’s fortunes. He added: “If it happens, this will be one of the smartest schools in the county, if not the country.”

The new academy could specialise in business and enterprise and performing arts, acting as a centre of excellence for neighbouring schools.

SAGA chairman Roger De Haan said: “I am pleased to be supporting this project. East Kent has suffered over the years from the lack of investment in its infrastructure. I hope the Academy and other projects will reverse this trend, giving opportunities to young people and promoting economic regeneration.”

SAGA is in the process of creating some 750 jobs in the the Thanet area.

The Ramsgate School is routinely near the bottom of the league tables in Kent but has a high percentage of special needs children. Last year, 59 per cent of pupils passed five GCSEs at grades A to G but only four per cent passed at grades A to C.

Earlier this year, KCC’s education director Graham Badman offered to meet personally parents who had misgivings about sending their children to the school, saying its poor reputation was undeserved. It is likely to be at least six months before KCC completes its initial study.