YOUNGSTERS from all over Swin-don will be receiving notification of their place at the new University Technical College, due to open in September.

Yesterday saw the main deadline for applications pass with more than 100 set to be offered a place.

But, as the UTC has not fulfilled its quota, families and students interested in attending will still be able to apply until the end of March.

When full to capacity the college will be able to educate 600 pupils aged 14 to 19 but in its first year will only be taking on those starting in Years 10 and 12.

Currently about two thirds of the applications are for Year 12 places, while the rest will be entering their GCSE year at the college.

The younger students will be sent an unconditional place this weekend. The older ones must ensure they have achieved certain conditions before they can start.

Principal Angela Barker-Dench said: “This is a big step forward for the UTC and I am delighted to be sending out applications.

“They will be sent out on Friday evening and Saturday morning. Then a further email will get sent out on Tuesday inviting the students, along with their families, to come and meet me so we can go through the next stages.

“We have had a strong response and I am pleased with how everything has gone so far. “We had a strong open evening earlier this week to which more than 100 families came, so I am expecting more applications over the coming week.

“The date of January 31 was set to keep us in line with local authority dates so I would certainly encourage anyone who is interested to come and find out more.”

The UTC is being built on the old Mill Site off Bristol Street and will offer an education which focuses on engineering, with the full curriculum being made public on Tuesday.

UTC backer Oxford Brookes University has put the curriculum together alongside local employers, such as Honda, to ensure the pupils will gain all the skills they will need to go into either full-time employment or higher education.

Angela said: “As well as engineering, all students will study the core curriculum subjects of mathematics, English, sciences, computer science, PE, and personal and social education, and within these areas we aim to focus, where relevant, on the practical aspects of technical engineering and enterprise.”

Anyone interested in finding out more information about the UTC should visit www.utcswindon.co.uk.