COUNCIL bosses are set to challenge the government’s decision to scrap plans to build a new secondary school in Perranporth.

Cornwall Council will be providing the Department for Education with information and data to help prove why the go ahead should be given to construct Perranporth Academy on land off Liskey Hill.

It follows the government deciding to abandon a proposal to build a 1,050 place Perranporth secondary school after concluding “there is not sufficient need for additional places to justify building a whole new school.”

The proposed secondary school was due to help alleviate pressure on the four secondary schools that the children in the area attend, which include Treviglas Academy and Tretherras in Newquay as well as Richard Lander and Penair in Truro.

Perranporth Academy was initially earmarked to be unveiled in September 2025, but the Department for Education delayed the scheduled opening to September 2026 as a "result of local planning considerations for pupil places in relation to local demographics.”

A spokesperson for Cornwall Council said: “The Department for Education (DfE) informed Cornwall Council yesterday (December 11) that the Secretary of State for Education is minded to cancel the Perranporth Academy free school project.

“We will be providing DfE with information and data to challenge this position as we believe a new school is necessary to meet demand for secondary school places in the area going forward.”

Perranporth Academy would have been part of the Truro and Penwith Academy Trust, which already supports 29 infant, primary and secondary schools across Cornwall including schools already in Perranporth, Mithian and Blackwater.

The Trust said: "Cornish children, families and communities will be worse off in years to come as a result of this short-term decision making.

“The new academy would have been "Cornwall's flagship for inclusive education" due to the planned purpose-built special educational needs and disabilities hub.”