Richmond Park Academy (RPA) has announced it will increase its intake from September 2015 to accommodate more students.

Parents unable to secure a place for their child at the school gave impassioned pleas to headteacher Lesley Kirby, who decided to approach the local authority and ask for an additional class for the next cohort.

The school has created an extra 30 places for year 7 in the 2015-16 academic year.

Ms Kirby said: “As headteacher, I do not have control over admissions. However, we at RPA felt very strongly that we had to offer what we could to support our local community.

“We are very happy that our approach was successful and look forward to welcoming an additional 30 students in September.

“All parents should be assured that we have the staffing, facilities and resources to enable us to do this.”