WEST Somerset Community College has succeeded in its bid to gain technology status and with it the guarantee of £650,000 to focus on four specialist subjects - mathematics, science, information technology and design technology.

The money will be used to completely overhaul design technology facilities at the Minehead college and to pay for the introduction of new courses.

It will also mean specialist equipment can be bought, staff given extra training, classes extended and research linked directly to Bristol University.

College principal Nick Swann said: "This is a tremendous success for the college and follows many years of excellent commitment from all members of staff to bring about improvements in every aspect of our work.

"By designating us as a technology college the Department for Education and Skills publicly acknowledges these achievements and, very importantly, recognises our capacity to extend our work still further, for the benefit of students and the wider community."

The college is one of just 36 schools throughout England to be named as a specialist technology college, all of which will be aiming to raise standards in innovative ways.

Asked how this would impact on the character of the college, Mr Swann was adamant no students would be left out of the learning process.

"We will remain an inclusive, comprehensive community school serving the needs of all our students," he said.

"While we will have a special focus on mathematics, science, information technology and design technology, we are also fully committed to developing and extending opportunities in every subject."

Work on the technology status bid has been going on for more than a year.

As reported in the Free Press last August, the college had to raise £50,000 in private sponsorship money before being able to take the first step on the road to becoming a specialist school.

In the event, local businesses came up trumps and the college received support totalling £90,000.

Bryan Leaker, Butlins resort director, was one of the driving forces behind the bid to drum up support for the college within the local business community.

He organised a fundraising lunch to officially launch the college's campaign last year.

Yesterday, Mr Leaker said he was delighted the college's application had been successful.

"I think it's great news for West Somerset and absolutely excellent for the children of this area," he said.

Mr Swann said: "The support we received from local businesses, community leaders, the district and county councils and our MP has been remarkable."

Once it had secured the money, the college then had to produce an ambitious plan, showing exactly how it would raise standards and increase opportunities, not only for its own students, but for children in its six partner schools and for adults in the community.

All the hard work was rewarded yesterday (Thursday) when the Secretary of State for Education and Skills officially announced the college's new status.

In a letter sent to all parents, Mr Swann said he had been "heartened by the trust and confidence" local people had placed in the college.

And while welcoming the college's specialist status, he said the news was yet another feather in the school's academic cap.

He explained: "We were awarded the national Sports Mark Award for our excellence in physical education, and have secured £750,000 worth of funding to build a new seven classroom English centre and upgrade teaching facilities in modern languages, ready for September 2003.

"At the same time we are building on excellent practices in the arts, humanities subjects and business to ensure that students benefit from high quality teaching in a wide range of courses across the college, including in our increasingly popular and growing sixth form."

The new technology status will take effect from September this year.