NONE of the secondary school places that would be created by a new high school in Rushwick have been earmarked for Malvern pupils.

Worcestershire County Council has submitted a planning application to Malvern Hills District Council to build a replacement for the Christopher Whitehead High School in St John's, Worcester, on farmland in the village.

The new school would have space for up to 1,350 pupils. There were 1,125 at the existing school in January.

Colin Weeden, the council's head of education policy, said that the catchment area would not be changed to help take some of the strain from overburdened Malvern schools.

"The new site is intended as a direct replacement for the current Christopher Whitehead High School and will serve exactly the same catchment area as it presently serves," he said.

"This area is generally the west side of the river in the city of Worcester. Catchment areas will not change as a result of the proposed move."

David Fawbert, head of Malvern's Chase High School, said it was forced to turn away around 60 pupils last year due to lack of space.

"Over the past two to three years there has been a great demand for places in the Malvern area," he said.

However, he added that pupils from Malvern should be able to apply for places at the new school, pointing out that a proportion of pupils at The Chase came from outside its catchment area.

"If that school is built it will be filled first and foremost from the children from its catchment," said Mr Fawbert.

"If they fill it, nobody can speculate on the number of people there might be in the queue."

Peter Buchanan, head of Dyson Perrins, said: "I think the positioning of the school and the decision not to change catchment areas are two interesting decisions. It means there will be pupils living within easy walking distance of the new school who will be put on the bus and brought into Malvern.

"I have pointed out that this does not seem altogether sensible to me, but they are not my decisions."

Mr Buchanan added that any political pressure brought to bear by Rushwick residents might lead to a rethink.