The school will be created at Homes England’s new Brookleigh 3,500-unit housing scheme near Burgess Hill and is designed to be the first school in West Sussex to achieve Passivhaus certification.

Work will start this April on the ultra-low carbon Bedelands Academy secondary school project in Brookleigh.

The school will form part of an ‘all-through’ primary and secondary school, which will be run by The University of Brighton Academies Trust.

Major new secondary school will be built on a sloping site and is planned to open in September 2025

The new secondary school is being delivered through the County Council’s multi-disciplinary consultancy partnership with Faithful+Gould, Atkins and Cundalls leading on the design.

Net-zero in operation, the building has energy efficiency at the heart of every area of its design.

Its position will provide maximum sunlight to nearly 1,000 solar photovoltaic panels generating an estimated 296,000 kWh of energy a year.

Main entrance area for school designed by Atkins

The academy will also have a running track, football, rugby and hockey pitches.