Two of Kent's oldest grammar schools - Chatham House and Clarendon House in Ramsgate - will officially agree to join forces from January 5, following a public consultation that generated great support for the initiative.

Under the government’s Building Schools for the Future programme the plan is for Clarendon House to be relocated on a redeveloped Chatham House campus in Chatham Street as part of an "education federation".

The campus will feature state-of-the art, cutting edge learning resources, encourage new teaching and learning methods to raise student aspirations, provide a strongly co-ordinated sixth form with around 500 students, with a more extensive range of courses and subject specialities.

Governors of both schools refute rumours and suggestions of an amalgamation. They stress: "This is categorically not the case."

Brian Turp (CHS) and Peter Troke (Clarendon House), chairs of governors, said the decision follows a year of hard work and friendly cooperation between the two governing bodies.

The governors say: "The two schools will remain as separate entities, retaining both their individual strengths and traditions. They will continue to offer a choice of single sex education and retain their central role within the Thanet community and particularly in Ramsgate. "

They see federation as the only way of overcoming the problems both schools currently endure of Victorian buildings and insufficient space. They are also confident that this federation will become "the leading force for educational excellence within the area."