A new high school in Perth will be named in honour of former prime minister Bob Hawke.

Around 250 Year 7 students will be welcomed to the school when it is completed next year, with plans to expand for Years 7-12 by 2025.

West Australian Premier Mark McGowan today announced the $71 million Bob Hawke College will use the famous Subiaco Oval as its playing fields.

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Mr Hawke, who was Labor's longest serving prime minister in the early 80s, died on May 16 aged 89.

He moved to Perth in 1939 with his parents, growing up in West Leederville.

Mr Hawke went on to study law at the University of Western Australia, becoming Guild President in 1951 and then a Rhodes Scholar.

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After studying at the University of Oxford in England, he returned back to Perth in 1956.

His uncle, Bert Hawke, was the 18th Premier of Western Australia.

Mr McGowan said naming Perth's newest school after Mr Hawke "is a fitting way to honour his legacy".

"The area surrounding the new school is steeped in the history of Mr Hawke's early years, with the former prime minister regularly walking from his West Leederville home on Tate St to Perth Modern School," he said.

Bob Hawke College will become the seventh in WA to be named after a former politician.

"This school will be world-class and we may see a future prime minister come through its doors," education minister Sue Ellery said.

Liberal Opposition leader Mike Nahan welcomes the decision, which was decided upon after community consultation.

"If that consultation has found that the name Bob Hawke College is supported by the community the opposition will also support it," he said.