A Catholic school in High Wycombe will expand into Buckinghamshire’s first £23 million satellite school, after plans were given the green light in a bid to cope with thousands of new homes planned for the county in the next couple of decades.

An extension of St Michael’s Catholic School, in Daws Hill Lane, will open in Aylesbury next year, on the former Quarrendon school site.

It comes amid warnings from local government leaders that almost half of councils across the country are at risk of being unable to meet rising demand for secondary school places within the next five years.

New analysis of Department for Education figures and local pupil forecasts by the Local Government Association (LGA) warns that more than 125,000 children face missing out on a secondary school place by 2022/23 nationally.

The LGA said councils “urgently” need to be given powers to “force academies and free schools to expand if additional places are needed” in a local area and “voluntary agreement” cannot be reached.

With many schools in Bucks already full, government figures suggest that secondary school pupil numbers could go up by more than 1,800 by 2018/19 – a 4.9 per cent increase from 36,211 in 2015/16 – and by 5,000 to 41,326 in 2022-23 – a 14.1 per cent increase.

Building work on the groundbreaking new school is expected to start next summer and finish in summer 2019.

Education bosses said the school will open in September next year with 120 Year 7 pupils in the former Bierton Hill Day Centre, which will be refurbished, before it moves to the permanent site a year later.

The £1 million cost of refurbishing buildings at Bierton Hill and £22 million construction cost of new buildings on the Quarrendon site will come from the Department for Education’s basic need funding and housing developer contributions.

The plan, a partnership between the County Council, St Michael's governors and trustees, and the Diocese of Northampton, will cater for students between 11 and 19, eventually growing to six classes per year group.

It comes after public consultations took place earlier this year, which Bucks county Council bosses said generated “up to 99 per cent support” for the school.

Mike Appleyard, cabinet member for education and skills, who approved the plan yesterday (Wednesday), said: “There has been extremely strong support for St Michael's satellite, a level of response rarely seen in such consultations.

“Faith schools do deliver good results and by and large parents like them.

“We've taken account of the way people in Aylesbury feel and I hope we'll be providing a school they will welcome.”

He added that with housing growth in the next five years, an additional 12 forms of secondary school entry would be needed in Aylesbury Vale – the equivalent of two schools – and the satellite school would provide half of this need.

St Michael’s head teacher Garret Fay said he was “very pleased” to be in a position to open the satellite school at Aylesbury, and thanked parents, the Buckinghamshire Catholic Schools Partnership and the county council’s school expansion team for their support.

He said: “The use of Bierton Hill ensures that pupils will be educated in a safe and secure learning environment, while building work at the Quarrendon site progresses.

“I’m looking forward to meeting prospective pupils and parents in the near future to share our designs and plans for 2018 and beyond.”