TOP students of a new Middlesbrough school will be given financial help to attend university, as well as work placements and job offers.

Business support services company Amey is sponsoring the Unity City Academy to the sum of £2m and announced this week it is to award four bursaries each year to academic achievers graduating from the school aged 16.

When they take up a university degree course, each student will receive £1,000 per year for every academic year.

They will also be offered summer work placements with the company while those graduating with a second class degree or higher can go onto Amey's graduate programme.

David McGahey, managing director of Amey Education and chairman of the Unity Trust Board, said: "We have a role to play in supporting improvements in the nation's education service, with the focus on learning."

The academy opens in the Langbaurgh and Keldholme school buildings in east Middlesbrough this September. Work on a new school building is due to begin in July, with completion expected in September next year.