A new independent school has confirmed it will start taking on students at a site in Worcester from September 2025.

Kimichi School, a music-led secondary school for students aged 11 to 16, is set to open on the former St Placides site on Battenhall Avenue.

It will be the country's second Kimichi School after its founder and headteacher, Sally Alexander, established the first in Birmingham 10 years ago.

She said: "I've been looking for a location for a sister school for about four years I think. Everything from houses and office buildings to ex-gyms, but we couldn't find anything suitable.

"Our Birmingham school is an old manor house filled with personality, so we wanted to find the same type of location.

"Then St Placides came up."

Kimichi School has agreed to move into the main building on the expansive St Placides site.

Ms Alexander said: "We had a couple of meetings with the site's owner, and we're a specialist music school - which he took a particular interest in - so he decided to support what we are doing."

As a music specialist institution, Kimichi School offers music as a core class alongside other traditional secondary subjects.

Ms Alexander said: "We have a love of music, and we're all about the benefits it brings, such as soft skills and helping those who suffer with anxiety.

"So we use music as a medium, but children who want to make a career out of music benefit too.

Ms Alexander expects to have approximately 80 children in the new Worcester school when it opens, and class sizes will be kept to a maximum of 10 students each.

We previously reported on a plan for how the St Placides building, which used to house a school as part of the former St Mary's Convent, could be demolished for flats. 

However, the building is now set to become a school again.

The school's founder already has ties to Worcester as a member of the Worcestershire Symphony Orchestra, and work has begun inside the St Placides building ahead of next year.

Ms Alexander added: "The building was in a bit of a state sadly, but we have cleared it out inside to renovate it, so we hope that by January we can allow people to take a look."