A NEW free school set to accommodate more than 1,300 pupils is due to open in Bournemouth town centre next year.

The Livingstone Academy will be housed in the former police station and magistrates’ court buildings in Madeira Road and Stafford Road.

The all-through school, for pupils aged four to 19, will specialise in preparing pupils for the rapidly-changing digital world.

It will be run by the Aspirations Academies Trust, which has 14 other schools across the country including the Jewell Academy in Townsend, Bournemouth and the Ocean and Magna Academies in Poole.

The Trust will be working alongside Ian Livingstone CBE, the co-founder of successful retail company Games Workshop.

The school will be the second free school to open in Bournemouth town centre.

Parkfield opened in a former office block in 2013 but has since moved to a site at Bournemouth Airport after failing to secure a suitable town centre location.

When full the new school will accommodate 1,370 students but in September 2019 it will only be taking two classes of Year 7 students.

The following year applications will be open to reception and to more Year 7 pupils.

Paula and Steve Kenning, co-founders of the Aspirations Academies Trust, said: “We are very excited to be granted the opportunity to open this school in Bournemouth. The vision for the school is to provide a high quality engaging and challenging education that provides not only high-level qualifications at GCSE and A level but also fully develops the skills young people need for success in this rapidly changing world.”

Ian Livingstone added: “In a world being transformed by technology, our vision is to help children think critically, creatively and computationally as well as achieve high grades in their qualifications, giving the students the skills to be job makers as well as job seekers.”

Applications can be made through Bournemouth council from September 1. Details at livingstone-aspirations.org