PLANS by Stourbridge's King Edward VI College and Ridgewood High School to form a multi-academy trust have been approved Department for Education.

Sharon Phillips, principal at prestigious King Edward's based in Lower High Street, confirmed the plan yesterday (Tuesday) although rumours had been rife for some time that a number of Stourbridge schools had been considering joining forces to form a large academy.

She said she was "delighted" that Ridgewood High School governors had now agreed to consult on the proposal to form a new trust which would see the Park Road West specialist science college becoming an "autonomous academy within the new trust arrangement".

The top college supremo's support for the plan comes just 18 months after she raised concerns about nearby Redhill School's decision to convert to an academy and open a sixth form during a time of austerity.

She told the News at the time that she was not anti-academy in general but argued that Redhill bosses were taking a "significant risk" at a time when funding was falling and questioned whether the popular school would cope with the challenges of functioning outside of local authority control.

Meanwhile Ridgewood's decision to pursue the formation of a multi-academy trust with King Edward's follows a bid for stand-alone academy status earlier this year.

Headteacher Clive Nutting said: "Governors have been considering their options following the recent 'good' Ofsted report and have now agreed to enter consultation with King Edward VI College on the proposed formation of a multi-academy trust.

“This is a far more exciting proposition and the opportunity for a successful 11 to 16 school to work more closely with such a highly respected and high-achieving post-16 college should bring great mutual benefits to everyone within our community.

"We will be going out to public consultation on this proposal later this month.

"A consultation document containing more detailed information will be produced and staff, parents and other members of the community will be able to attend meetings, ask questions and provide comments and feedback.

"This is clearly an interesting development and I am sure our students and parents will be keen to learn more about the potential advantages of our school establishing a closer and more formal working relationship with King Edward's."

If the plan gets the go-ahead, conversion to academy status could be completed by spring 2015.