WORK to completely transform Woodcote High School's science department will start this summer after it won a £1.6 million grant.
The Coulsdon school's 11 science laboratories were originally built in the 1950s and are in "dire" need of refurbishment, according to head Mark Southworth.
They will be replaced by "state-of-the-art" facilities built using funds secured through the Education Funding Agency (EFA), part of the Department for Education.
Work on the new classrooms will get under way this summer.
Mr Southworth hailed the success of the bid, led by the school's site manager Steve Callan, as a "phenomenal achievement".
"The quality of the bid has resulted in this huge injection of funding for Woodcote," he said.
"Students can look forward to carrying out their science experiments in laboratories that will be the envy of other institutions."
As part of the work, three new laboratories will be built alongside a sports science room. The other nine labs will be refurbished in stages to avoid disrupting lessons.
The new labs will replace temporary ones built as the school expanded, and work is expected to be completed by June 2015.
Mr Southworth said the facilities would hugely benefit pupils at the school.
"They are really motivated by the practical aspects of science and carrying out their own experiments really helps them to learn and retain scientific concepts," he added. "We are sure that these labs will help us go from strength to strength academically."
The grant was one of the largest awarded from the EFA fund of £394 million, which was four times oversubscribed.
The fund is designed to provide capital finance for academies since they are no longer under the control of the Local Education Authority.
Woodcote High became an academy in June 2012.
