The go-ahead has been given for a new primary school on the Longforth Farm housing estate on the edge of Wellington.

The Isambard Kingdom Brunel School will be sited behind what is now the Bloor Homes sales office in Normandy Row/Lillebonne Way and will admit its first pupils in September 2019.

The school will eventually be a 14-class primary with two-form entry but is likely to initially open with one reception class and a nursery and build up numbers over time.

The Education Funding Agency is paying for the school as part of its Free Schools Programme, saving Somerset County Council’s capital funds, but the cost of the building is not yet known.

The WWN reported in September last year that the Castle Partnership Trust, made up of Court Fields School in Wellington and The Castle in Taunton, had agreed to sponsor two primary schools, one in each catchment area.

The trust said existing primary schools were already over-subscribed and pressure would increase with new housing developments planned.

Government funding was available for new schools where places were needed and a suitable sponsor could be found.

The new school in Wellington will work closely with the other primary schools in the town and the heads of existing schools will support it to help ensure it provides high quality education.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was one of the greatest Victorian engineers and one of his best known works was the Great Western Railway, which links Wellington and Taunton. He was also responsible for many industrial buildings in Wellington.

The academies in the Castle Partnership Academy Trust were transferred to the Samuel Ward Academy Trust in December last year.