Wymondham High School has succeeded in its bid to achieve academy status.

Staff received the go-ahead from the Department for Education on Friday for the 1,600-pupil school to become an academy in September.

Headteacher Victoria Musgrave and governors had said the move would result in the school being �600,000 better off in its first academic year.

The new status will allow the school to buy in services currently offered by Norfolk County Council such as HR and Payroll.

It follows Wymondham High being awarded �3m towards new buildings enabling it to get rid of some of its mobile classrooms after the county council was handed �30m of government cash to create space for extra pupils and transform run-down buildings among its schools.

'We are pleased that we have received confirmation of this new status and not only will it give us additional funding for much needed resources at school but it will also allow us a degree of autonomy,' said Mrs Musgrave.

'We are not changing our name, our uniform or our ethos but we do feel increased funding will allow us to focus on our much needed learning and teaching resources.

'This academy funding and the �3m we have recently been awarded by Norfolk County Council for new build means that our school can continue to strive to be an outstanding centre of academic excellence.

My grateful thanks to my staff in particular who have been wonderfully supportive throughout this process, our parents, students and especially the governing body.'