PUPILS at York schools could soon be able to take a range of new Specialised Diplomas if a £888,000 funding bid proves successful.

The Government hopes to introduce the new diplomas in schools across the country in September 2008.

They have been designed to provide an alternative to more traditional education and qualifications, such as GCSEs.

York's 14-19 Partnership has completed a bid to the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to offer four of the new diplomas to small numbers of students in construction and the built environment, creative and media, engineering and information technology.

A fifth diploma in society, health and development will be offered to larger numbers of students because of the work that has already taken place across the city on the health and social care diploma pilot, led by York College.

Five separate bids have been put in with engineering £275,000, construction £750,000, ICT £183,000, creative and media £190,000, health, society and development £240,000.

The money would be used to fund and equip the courses and schools, colleges and training providers have agreed that each will be involved according to its capacity to embrace this particular curriculum change.

York's Lifelong Learning Partnership is already committed to finding a £150,000 contribution if the bid is successful.

The local authority could be required to underwrite this from the schools' formula capital budget but, in the first instance, contributions will be sought from colleges and the schools' delegated capital budgets.

A direct schools' grant has been allocated for the financial years 2006-2008 to build capacity within schools to support the introduction of specialised diplomas, a total of £461,000.

At a meeting of the executive member for children's services advisory panel in the Guildhall City of York Council education chiefs gave the bids their backing.

Coun Ian Cuthbertson said the idea was for the diplomas to move from these initial five lines to 14 by 20013.

He said: "It will be great if it comes off, but it's going to be a challenge."

Every secondary school has indicated an interest in helping to design and deliver at least one of these diplomas. York College, Askham Bryan College and Providers in Partnership (the local consortium of work-based learning providers) are all fully engaged with the planning process.

Five diploma development groups prepared their submissions in time to meet the DfES deadline of December 11, 2006, and the council is not expecting to hear whether any of the bids have been successful until March.