And Laura Walton, of Middleton, says she will not be satisfied with a low-ranking job in the building trade.

Instead, she has set her sights on a top job as an architect, and already has her own ideas on how she would add to the design of Leeds's skyline.

She said: "I like things that look a bit different, like The Dalek. I am inspired by round buildings, I would like to design something based on the Corn Exchange, but looking really modern and coloured white."

The 16-year-old says she is determined to start at the bottom and work her way up, by entering the Alternative Courses in Health and Education (ACHE) College of Construction in Osmondthorpe.

Before getting that place, through government initiative entry to employment, she had applied to several building colleges in Yorkshire, without success.

From ACHE, she hopes to secure a place at Leeds College of Building, before going on to university to study architecture.

She says she is not fazed by building being a male dominated trade.
She added: "It doesn't bother me at all. I just get on with things, I am in the army cadets and my dad is an army sergeant.

"I have always been good with my hands and good at drawing, but not particularly good at writing, so a practical job is perfect for me."

ACHE, in Osmondthorpe Lane, works with children and young people who have been unable to stay in mainstream education.

Some arrive with troubled backgrounds and severe personal problems.
The centre has a strong track record, with figures from the 2006 to 2007 school year showing 78 per cent of the young people training there decided to stay in education, or had gone on to find full time work.

In January, ACHE is to secure its position in Leeds's education system when it is officially launched as a foundation college.

Centre manager Peter Beck said: "When you remember that we are dealing with young people who just did not fit into the education system, that is a pretty good result."

For more about ACHE ring 0113 249 8828 or visit www.acheprogramme .co.uk.

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