A SCHOOL catering for young people who struggle to succeed in mainstream education has been launched.

Delta Independent School has been set up at Consett YMCA and is working with 13 schools in County Durham.

Teachers help young people on the brink of expulsion to prepare for exams and offer support in a different learning environment from secondary schools in the area.

The charity has been running its alternative education programme since 1997, but has recently been granted school status.

Consett YMCA chief executive Billy Robson said: “This facility is needed in Consett as there is no other alternative education facility.

“We started working with young people in 1997 with outdoor pursuits to get their behaviour sorted out.

“It has gone from strength to strength. Without this a lot of the young people in the area would be sitting at home doing nothing.

“Some of them leave here with between four and eight GCSEs and get into employment, which is very important for their futures.”

Delta Independent School was officially opened on Friday, with an awards ceremony for students, by Shadow Education Minister Pat Glass, MP for North-West Durham.

Mrs Glass said: “This is regularising a system that gives very good education to a group of young who for whatever reason are not able to do that at mainstream school.

“It is a really good provision and it gets really good results. There is a huge commitment from staff and the people here. It bridges that gap for a group of young people between school and college and apprenticeship.

“I am really pleased it is here in Consett and I wish we could reproduce it right across the constituency.”

The school currently has around 50 pupils and hopes to expand to 80 by March.

If offers up to seven GCSEs including English, maths, ICT, geography and PE from teachers employed by the YMCA and personal development from trained youth workers

OFSTED inspector Saleem Hussain, who has worked with the charity to help it secure school status, said: “Students are being taught vital future skills here.

“It is what education is all about and the staff here are helping young people cope with the pressures of growing up.”

Neville Harrison, headteacher of St Bede’s in Lanchester, who was at the launch, said: “It give our schools a great alternative. Sometimes the demands of studying in a structured secondary school do not suit everyone and students need an alternative provision that suits their particular needs.”