'It's a brilliant idea to help bright kids without opportunities... but is it in the right place?'

Oldham town centre is getting a brand new school. The council recently announced that a sixth form backed by the elite boarding school Eton College will be replacing the town’s old outdoor market.

Eton Star Academy will support bright kids from ‘disadvantaged backgrounds’ into some of the best universities in the country, according to bosses at Eton and the council. The sixth form will be run by Star Academies, a leading school trust, and receive a £1m boost and educational support from Eton College.

Many parents in Oldham have celebrated the news of a ‘prestigious’ education becoming available in the Greater Manchester borough.

But others think it’s being built in the ‘wrong place’.

Tommyfield outdoor market is near the very centre of the town, just up the road from the Spindles shopping centre. Now largely abandoned, the whole site is tipped for development under Oldham council’s new town plans. And remaining Tommyfield traders are due to be relocated to a new venue adjacent to the Spindles shopping centre in early 2025.

Mohammed, a dad of three, was ‘excited’ by the idea of an Eton Star school coming to the old site. He said: “Oldham is a deprived area. They’ve never put any investment into it and there’s a lot of poor people. But there’s also a lot of clever children here who just don’t get the chance.”

The 40-year-old manager at the pawnbrokers Ramsdens, located just a stone’s throw from the Tommyfield site, said it didn’t bother him where they built the school.

“Oldham council has already made the decision for the market to go,” he said. “So, it’s just going to be vacant. It’s better if it’s a school that’s coming.”

Shailesh, 65, a local bus driver and grandfather of four, added: “Especially if it’s a