New qualifications for youngsters

The new 14-19 diplomas are being delivered at secondary schools and colleges across the county and are an alternative to traditional GCSE and A-Level courses.

In a phased introduction, this year sees diplomas in construction, engineering, IT, creative and media, and society, health and development offered in the five areas across the county.

This year 300 pupils are starting the diplomas. Next year, as the diplomas are extended to include hair and beauty studies, manufacturing and product design, business admin and finance, environmental and land-based studies, and hospitality and catering, that figure is expected to rise to about 1,500.

Eventually there will be 17 new diploma courses in total and these will all be available as options to all young people in East Sussex by 2013.

The development of the diplomas in East Sussex has been supported by a wide range of local employers, who welcome the new qualification as an excellent preparation for working life.

Councillor David Elkin, the County Council's Lead Member for Learning and School Effectiveness said: "This really is very good news for the county's young people. A lot of hard work has gone into ensuring that these diplomas can be delivered successfully in East Sussex and they really will provide a wider choice to encourage young people to stay in learning for longer.

"Diplomas offer a different way of learning for those whose needs are not met by the current curriculum and alongside these there will also be a significant increase in the number of apprenticeship opportunities in the county. This will offer people who want to enter the workforce at 16 or 18 the chance to secure a job with a structured training programme."

The diplomas are being delivered by partnerships of schools and colleges in the county known as Local Area Partnership Boards, and the County Council is working closely with schools and colleges to ensure that all the diplomas are available as options to all young people by 2013. This includes a transport strategy to ensure no young person is prevented from accessing a diploma because of where they live.

The introduction of the new vocational diploma courses is also being supported by some new facilities. These include a new building on Denton Island in Newhaven to contain facilities for construction and hair and beauty courses. Engineering and construction facilities at Sussex Downs College in Eastbourne have also been redeveloped and updated.