Thomas Telford opened in 1991 as one of 15 city technology colleges launched by the Tories as part of a programme to raise school standards through innovation. The colleges have been encouraged to use ground-breaking learning and teaching methods relevant to the 21st century and boosted by extra financial resources from the private sector. The day begins at 7.30am and can last until 7pm.
Lessons last three hours.
Competition for places is so keen that the school now attracts more than 1,000 applications every year for just 168 first year places. Staff also work a longer week, but are rewarded with performance-related pay and receive extra payment for covering classes and running school clubs and societies. Everyone connected with these fantastic results should be congratulated for their contribution. I am probably the luckiest headteacher in the country to have had the privilege of leading Thomas Telford school to this record breaking position. Significant progress had already been made with more than 500 schools around the country using some of its online teaching and learning materials, he said.