A NEW vocational training centre for students at Okehampton College could be up and running next year.
The two-storey state of the art centre will be completely self-sufficient, using solar panels and other renewable energy sources such as bio mass boilers. It will offer students the opportunity to develop their skills and choose from a host of subjects.
College principal Daryll Chapman said: 'In the last three years the progress the college has made has been remarkable.
'We came in the top 20 per cent in the high performance status. Our challenge now is to maintain that success.'
Mr Chapman said the new training centre would see the college offer nine B-tech qualifications that would sit alongside the GCSE qualifications already being offered.
The centre will include hair and beauty salon services and motor vehicle engineering and construction, with the chance to study diplomas in construction from 2009.
Mr Chapman said: 'The diplomas will be up and running by September and we hope that all the other facilities will go ahead if the planning goes through.
'We are working together with Tavistock College skills centre and are extremely excited about the development.'
The new centre will mean students wishing to study for their diplomas will not have to travel out of Okehampton to do so and the new building will offer them a comfortable environment in which to study.
Vice-principal Derrick Brett said: 'We have tried to develop a course that will inspire pupils who wouldn't usually choose to follow an academic programme.
'It allows the students to study a vocational qualification in Okehampton, whereas before they may have had to travel a longer distance to study.'
The college has put together a trial for the construction course and has had a large amount of interest from students keen to study for the diploma in September.
Some of the B-techs the college is planning for key stage four are small animal care, applied science, sport and business studies.
The college wants to build on the success of the B-techs that were last year's key stage and improve on their vocational position, enabling them to keep their high performance status and continue to improve their curriculum.