An A-level student has got the chance to dream up ad campaigns for a top London firm that counts Guinness and the BBC among its clients.

Elaine Thomas from Egglescliffe Secondary School, in Stockton, will join four other young people at Claydon Heeley Jones Mason advertising agency.

With top brands such as Compaq, The Guardian and Sony on their books, the experience will provide a real insight into the high-flying marketing world.

She will help set up their own ad agency for the day - complete with their own office on a separate floor of the Thames-side building where the London agency is based.

Elaine was selected for the work experience, courtesy of Connexions Card, a new learning initiative available in learning centres across the North-East.

To let the youngsters experience the day-to-day reality of working in a top ad agency, they will be given a real-life brief to work on and present back to the agency by 5pm that same day.

Connexions Card aims to encourage young people to stay in post-16 education and training by offering them rewards like this in return for a commitment to learning. Young people attending schools and colleges, or in work-based training across the North-East were among the first in the country to get their own personal Connexions Cards.