Essex County Council is on track to deliver 3,150 new school places following record investment.

In response to continued growth of the county, Essex County Council has spent almost £48million creating 3,000 new primary places and 150 secondary places for the 2015/16 academic year.

With many pupils returning to school next week, a number of the projects have already been completed while the finishing touches are being put on others.

The schemes will allow all schools involved to admit additional pupils from the start of term.

Among the projects are a new 420-place primary school in Colchester, new 210-place primary schools in Chelmsford, Harlow and Takeley, the expansion of schools in Braintree, Chelmsford, Colchester, Harlow, Loughton, Silver End and Witham, and a complete rebuild and expansion of John Ray Infant School in Braintree following a fire in 2013.

Also nearing completion is a rebuild of Market Field Community Special School in Elmstead Market.

The new buildings open in September and will offer 200 places for children aged four to 16 with moderate learning difficulties, including 60 places for pupils with autism.

Cllr Ray Gooding, Essex County Council's Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning, said: “Essex is growing rapidly and the demand for school places in the county is also continuing to rise.

“To meet that demand, we are planning to spend about £200 million over the next five years on creating extra school places.

“I am delighted to see so many exciting projects coming to a conclusion this summer and look forward to the new pupils starting in September.”