THE building of a new 1,500 place secondary school in Oldbury is set to start later this month.

Work on the new Q3 Academy Langley, Moat Road, is scheduled to begin on September 19 with the school on track to open to 150 year seven pupils in September 2016.

Parents will be able to apply for year seven places when applications open on Monday (September 14).

Open mornings will be held from Monday September 28 to Friday October 2 at the Q3 Academy, Great Barr, as well as an open evening on Monday October 5.

The new academy is being designed and developed by Sandwell Council in partnership with sponsors Eric and Grace Payne, who also sponsor the Great Barr academy.

Councillor Simon Hackett, cabinet member for children's services, said: "It’s great news for the parents and children of Sandwell that we are building this new secondary school, the first to open in the borough in 10 years.

“We have developed an excellent partnership with Eric and Grace Payne and the senior staff at Q3 Academy Great Barr.

“The Q3 Academy in Great Barr is giving young people a great standard of education and we hope to continue this in the new school in Oldbury.”

Chief Executive and principal of Q3 Academy Great Barr Dr Caroline Badyal said: “Our plans for the new building in Oldbury are exciting and we are greatly encouraged by the feedback we are getting from parents.”

“We encourage parents interested in either Q3 academies to come along to our open events where we will talk about our approach to education and how to apply for places.”