TWO bright sparks from a Salisbury school have shown they are in a class of their own by winning places at a prestigious academy for gifted and talented pupils.

Caroline Akers (14) and Marcia Henstridge (15) from Westwood St Thomas's School will spend three weeks of their summer holiday at Warwick University studying with many of Britain's brightest youngsters.

The scheme is a new government initiative to give high achieving students extra encouragement to stay at the top of the class.

Headteacher Alan Hinchliffe said: "Helping children with special needs and those at the other end of the scale is something that comprehensive schools have traditionally done very well.

"But this scheme allows us to concentrate on our gifted pupils and make sure they get enough of a challenge to achieve their very best."

Over the last year Caroline and Marcia have attended mentoring sessions with teachers and sixth form students in addition to working with top experts from Bath University.

At the summer school they will be able to choose a variety of courses in subjects including music, creative writing and maths.

The school's gifted and talented co-ordinator Karen Collins said: "The summer school is aimed at the top two per cent of pupils nationwide so they have done very well.

"We first ran the scheme to identify pupils who excelled in maths but it has expanded to recognise outstanding pupils in all areas of school life including P.E, drama and music."