PROFESSIONAL sportsman, engineer, accountant and teaching assistant.

These are just a few of the professions that Priestley students have gone on to secure jobs and apprenticeships in - just months after leaving the college.

Alan Sugar may only hire one apprentice each year, but nearly 200 Priestley College students have secured work since finishing their studies.

Among the 2014 cohort, who left Priestley in summer, are students who have achieved apprenticeships at major companies including the NHS, AMEC Nuclear, the BBC and Monarch Airlines.

While some have gone travelling, around 650 students have gone on to further education both at home and abroad.

Deputy principal Matthew Grant said: “At a time when there is still concern about youth unemployment we take great pride in the number of former students who have found apprenticeships and jobs."

“A lot of these jobs and placements have been achieved through the sheer hard work of students and also the strong links that Priestley enjoys with businesses in Warrington and Halton."

Former students have secured a diverse range of jobs including builders, business administrators, care assistants, chefs, climbing instructors and personal trainers.

One is training to become a Royal Marine, another a logistics officer with the RAF while a third is a trainee officer with the Royal Navy.

While 94 students have stayed at Priestley to continue their studies, one is now on a football scholarship in Mississippi while two more are studying at a theatre school in Barcelona.

More than 500 students are at university including Oxford and Cambridge.