A WESTON school could soon become an academy after making an application to the secretary of state for education.

Broadoak Mathematics and Computing College, in Windwhistle Road, is bidding to become the latest school in North Somerset to convert - and could make the change by February 1.

But before this can happen one of the issues that needs to be resolved relates to the building and its maintenance.

The school has been in discussion with North Somerset Council in the hope it will be granted a 125-year lease of the site. If it is successful it will be given at a peppercorn rental and the academy will be responsible for keeping the property in good condition.

But the council, as landlord, will not be liable within the lease for any repair or maintenance.

Executive members have now decided officers should finalise the grant of a 125-year lease to Broadoak Mathematics and Computing College.

A switch to academy status offers schools greater control over curriculum and finances by giving it independence from local authority influence.

The former Wyvern Community School became the first secondary-level academy in the area when it completed its conversion to Hans Price Academy in May 2011, but it has since been followed by Priory, Churchill, and Kings of Wessex in Cheddar.