IT has been a busy first year for staff and students at UTC Warrington.

The £10million school recruited more students in its first year than any other university technical college in the country.

And principal Lee Barber said the UTC model, which aims to train 14 to 19 year olds in engineering, science and technology subjects, has now begun to help youngsters into their dream careers.

“We already have students who have gone on to apprenticeships in engineering, it’s already working,” he said.

“We are focusing on our students’ destinations. For parents it’s all about where their children will be going next – whether it’s an apprenticeship, university or other further education.

“We’ve had some lovely feedback from happy parents.”

And pupils will certainly stand out from the crowd as the school is set to offer cyber security training and is the only college with a PRINCE2 project management programme, which 13 students have just passed.

Lee said: “All employers are asking for cyber security knowledge at the moment, so we hope they will be pretty much guaranteed an interview with qualifications like this. It’s all about getting youngsters ready for the world of work.”

With the number of students set to double in September, from 212 to more than 400, Lee has also recruited 18 new teachers.

By the end of the year youngsters at the eye-catching building in the town’s stadium quarter are also set to get an outdoor space in an existing car park beside the site, with a pop up catering stall, seating and artificial grass.

Schools across the country are struggling to employ maths, English and science teachers so Lee looks for staff all year round and offers them training in specialist skills – one of the maths teachers is also a qualified blacksmith.

Lee added: “It’s about what’s right for the students, not what’s right for me, the institution or the budget. This is more than just a job to me and I’m so proud of it.”

'Gutted' for Future Tech Studio School

After the closure of Future Tech Studio School earlier this year left 47 students in the lurch, the UTC welcomed 10 of those youngsters and a handful of staff. Lee was Future Tech’s first principal before he was approached to start the UTC.

“I learned lots at Future Tech and thoroughly enjoyed it but the opportunity to come here was too good to miss,” he said.

“I devoted a big part of my life to Future Tech. There are a great bunch of people working there and I was genuinely gutted to hear that they had to close. I spent a lot of my evenings and weekends there.”

Addressing concerns earlier this year that students who would have gone to Future Tech had instead enrolled at the UTC, he said: “Some of the problem may have been down to the UTC but not all of it. Future Tech had different specialities. It was oversubscribed when I left. The students who have joined us from the school seem to be doing brilliantly. I’m always worried about them because they had to change schools in the middle of the academic year but they took it in their stride.”