This time next year, local students wishing to specialise in engineering and sciences will have the choice of a brand new Studio School, due to be built on Writhlington School's campus.

As The Journal went to press on 5th August, we broke the news that the Department of Education had approved Writhlington School's application to open a brand new Studio School, with details to follow.

Headteacher, Mark Everett, said that he was absolutely delighted that the new school, which will be called the Mendip Studio for Electronic Engineering and Bioscience, will open in September 2015, offering high quality specialist science, technology, engineering and maths courses for up to 300 14–19-year-olds. It will cost between £4 million and £5 million to build.

As part of the new school, Writhlington will be working in partnership with the Dyson Foundation, Sciencescope, Intel, Kew, the Eden Project and a number of higher education institutions, including Cambridge, Bath and Bristol Universities.

Studio Schools are different in that they work closely with local employers. The idea is that as well as offering a range of academic and vocational qualifications, including GCSEs in English, Maths and Science, students also undertake paid workplacements linked directly to employment opportunities, helping them to develop the skills they need in the world of work. Students will gain a broad range of employability and life skills, with the option to go on to university, further training and employment.

This new approach to education is part of the Government's drive to invest in specialist, technical education. Speaking for the Department of Education, Chancellor George Osborne said: "University technical colleges and Studio Schools are a key part of the Government's long-term economic plan, because they help ensure young people have the right skills so they can maximise their potential.

"The new colleges will provide the next generation of British workers with the skills they need to secure the high-tech jobs of the future." Students at the new Mendip Studio will learn through Science and Technology projects, both in school and with local businesses. In addition, students will be able to study extra courses which will help them in the workplace, including qualifications in IT, computing, engineering, electronics and sciences. Students will work in smaller groups with individual support from a 'personal coach', who will meet with them one-to-one every fortnight to develop their own personalised learning plan and tailor their curriculum. Studio Schools are fully inclusive, open to students of all abilities and comply with the national School Admissions Code.

The building project on the Writhlington campus is expected to start later this year, with completion planned for next summer. The first students will be able to join the school in September 2015 to start their GCSE or Sixth Form courses.

The announcement on 5th August saw proposals for seven new university technical colleges and four Studio Schools approved, of which the site at Writhlington was one. As well as the Mendip Studio for Electronic Engineering and Bioscience, another school will open in Bristol, the Grange Studio School, which will cater for 360 students specialising in high-tech industries, advanced engineering and the creative and digital industry, working with employers across south Gloucestershire. There are already 28 Studio Schools in the country, with the Bath Studio School due to open in September this year.

Speaking to The Journal this week, Deputy Head at Writhlington School, Bob Girvan, said: "The cost of the new Mendip Studio School will be finally determined by the Department for Education when all planning and preliminary site visits are complete. The proposed site is next to the current Sixth Form building and the design is very similar, with a large atrium and project space as a centrepiece. Kew, the Eden Project and Cambridge University Gardens will all be working with us on Bioscience projects and will also be offering work placements and providing visiting workshops for students. Obviously, we will be building on our Orchid Project links and using it as one of the resources. The other key feature of the new school will be Electrical Engineering and Computing, where our key industry partners include a high tech research and science innovation company already based at Writhlington.

"There is a serious shortfall of engineers in the UK and the school will be part of a major drive to train and recruit the next generation of high-quality engineers. The Government has already emphasised the fact that girls are very under-represented in this sector and is working hard to promote engineering as a career for girls. One of Writhlington's A level students, Megan Macpherson, has just successfully obtained a place to study Civil Engineering at University College London, after achieving straight A grades.

"All funding for the new school will be provided by the Government and we are meeting with the Department of Education this week to plan the building project."