Builders are adding a new part to The Unicorn School in the old Premier Inn on Marcham Road in Abingdon. The Unicorn School helps students who learn differently, like those with dyslexia.

There is scaffolding outside the old hotel and builders are working inside, changing the hotel rooms into classrooms. They are putting in strong supports made of wood and steel, and adding a lift.

The Unicorn School, across the road, is already full and has 120 students. Lots of other students want to go to the school. Every year, 350 families ask for a place, but there are only 20 places.

The school bought the old Premier Inn and restaurant after the hotel moved to a new building near Tesco in Abingdon.

The building work will happen in two stages:

Stage 1 (Premier Inn changes – £2.4 million): This will add new classrooms for 120 more students. These classrooms will be ready for students to use in September 2025.

Stage 2 (Ock Mill changes – £2 million): This will add places for students over 16 to learn job skills. These places will be ready in 2026 and will help another 100 students.

If you want to know more about the new building and how you can help? Go to the website: https://www.unicornoxford.co.uk/support-us/ockmill/

Roysse’s Gateway, the historic entrance to The Old Abingdon Grammar School, has undergone conservation work in recent weeks.

Building conservationists have made repairs, and undertaken preservation work to prevent further decay and given the Roysse Arms a new coat of paint. The gateway used to lead into the school yard and was the gift of the Earl of Abingdon in 1811. The gateway is now permanently closed since the yard is now a public garden.

John Roysse, at the age of sixty-three, established the school in the year 1563, providing education for sixty-three boys. John Roysse left substantial funds to ensure the school’s enduring legacy. Today, the school is thriving on a larger site. It educates a significantly larger number of boys, and will soon welcome girls. See Abingdon School to welcome girls for the first time

The Unicorn School, Abingdon, has acquired the former Premier Inn and Ock Mill on Marcham Road, enabling it to double its pupil enrolment from 120 to 240 over the next few years. With over three decades of experience, the school specialises in supporting students with neurodiversity challenges, including dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism, and speech and language difficulties. The new facility will allow the school to offer a sixth-form program in the future.

The school will operate across both sites, with the new location requiring planning permission to transform the existing buildings from a hotel and restaurant into a school. The car park is already being utilised by parents for drop-off and pick-up.

For more details, please visit the Unicorn School’s website: https://www.unicornoxford.co.uk/news/?pid=0&nid=1&storyid=179.