But the teaching style of the course allows students to make

But the teaching style of the course allows students to make progress with the technology at their own pace. “The atmosphere is a lot more relaxed than the ICT AS-level,” Jamie says. “The teacher helps you a lot if you need it, but you’re not taught from the front so much.”As well as giving him marketable skills, an advanced course which suits Jamie’s abilities should theoretically stand him in good stead for going on to higher education. “I’d like to do a degree in special effects and animation at Lincoln,” he says.At least 40 per cent of students taking vocational A-levels at Farnborough will be applying to higher education.

But the course tutors are unhappy with the current method of assessment and worried about the first batch of final results due this summer. According to Sue Phillip, who runs the business course: “As soon as students start the course they need to be at second year A-level standard, which is crazy.”A Qualifications and Curriculum Authority consultancy is looking into this, and Farnborough’s principal, Dr John Guy, hopes that the system will be changed promptly. “We celebrated the philosophy behind the AVCE of building parity of esteem with traditional A-levels. But this academic assessment regime is not appropriate for youngsters who can excel in a different way.”Jamie Bailey’s teacher, Christine Eustace, thinks ICT is an ideal subject for vocational teaching “It really does lend itself to empowering the student. There’s lots of emphasis in the course on the students finding things out for themselves.”Farnborough didn’t offer an advanced GNVQ (the vocational A-level’s precursor) in ICT, and Jamie’s course was launched at the college last September, a year after the introduction of the AVCE. Christine Eustace is aware that the right speaker or an inspiring trip can make all the difference in encouraging students to pursue a particular career, and she’s working hard to build up these elements in her course. “We’ve got the director of e-commerce specialists Click Commerce coming in to talk to the students, and we’ve taken them to Guildford Spectrum, one of the biggest leisure centres in the UK, to see how IT manages everything from party organising to the temperature of the pool.” She’s got a trip to Disneyland, Paris planned, too.The college’s travel and tourism AVCE offers trips even further afield.

Seventeen-year-old Holly Trotman, a first-year on the course, is excited about going to America next year The students will be visiting either New York or Florida. “I’ve always wanted to work in the travel industry,” she says, “and thought this course looked fun.”Holly’s class had a training day on holiday repping and working in a cabin crew, which she found inspiring. Her dream would be to jet around the world on long-haul flights. “I’d love to go to the Caribbean,” she says.But the course isn’t filling students’ heads with unrealistic ideas.