PRIESTLEY college’s criminology students recently took a trip to San Francisco as part of their studies – and paid a visit to one of the world’s most notorious prisons, Alcatraz.

The 31 A-level pupils visited the city and Alcatraz to see how US prisons were formed and how they compare to those in the UK.

Criminals the teenagers had learnt about in class, such as the Zodiac Killer, were brought to life for the students as they took part in a crime tour around the city.

“Alcatraz was a great experience,” said Ashleigh Jones, a former pupil at The Heath.

“I found all the stories interesting and being there brought it all to life.”

During the trip, the students heard about infamous American criminals, as well as learning about some of San Francisco's current crime concerns.

It wasn’t all crime related though, as the youngsters also enjoyed some downtime and took a ride on the city’s famous cable cars, as well as getting to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.

“This was one of the highlights of the trip as we were surrounded by clouds as we walked across it, and then took a coach ride up above the clouds – it was quite surreal,” said Claire Colwell, criminology tutor at Priestley College.