WORK has begun on the building of a £6.5m sixth form centre at Middlesbrough College.

The new facility, which is to open is doors next September, will create 19 full-time jobs and include 13 classrooms, tutorial rooms, a student lounge, cafe and sports facilities as well as a full-sized, floodlit AstroTurf pitch and a "high ropes" centre with zip wires.

It is expected that the new centre, based in Middlehaven, will attract 300 more teenagers to study AS and Alevels, and allow the college to offer a wider choice of subjects, helping to raise aspiration and achievement across the region.

Middlesbrough College is the largest provider of education to pupils aged over 16 in the Tees Valley area, teaching about 3,500 16 to 18-year olds full-time.

College principal Mike Hopkins said that the £6.5m investment was further evidence of Middlesbrough College's determination to offer exceptional facilities and teaching to young people in the town and across the Tees Valley.

He said: "The governing body's progressive decision will ensure that all of the young people who want to study at AS and A-level will be able to do so in an outstanding environment for learning. We shall also be providing additional sports facilities which will add to our already hugely impressive range of facilities."

A-level pass rates at the college have risen over recent years. This year, 13 A-level subjects, including maths, computing, biology and chemistry, achieved a 100 per cent pass rate and there was a 50 per cent increase in numbers of A* to C grades at A level.