AN INNOVATIVE school designed to train tomorrow's doctors and engineers is being planned for Selsdon.

John Ruskin College wants to open the borough's first "studio school", a growing educational initiative which combines paid work experience with practical, hands-on learning.

Croydon Studio School of Medical Sciences and Technology would cater for 300 pupils, with small classes taught in laboratories and workshops rather than traditional classrooms.

The school is designed to address a national shortage of healthcare professionals and engineers, as well as reversing the trend which sees half of students leave Croydon for post-16 education.

John Ruskin principal Tim Eyton-Jones said: "The aim is to get students into a career either as a doctor or an engineer.

"It will be a very different experience than what you would find at a normal secondary school. While we would still teach the national curriculum, it will be hands-on in a way which better reflects working life."

The studio school, for 14-to-19-year-olds, would operate on the same site as the college in Selsdon Park Road, with no additional building work required.

GCSEs would be scrapped in favour of the English Baccalaureate, which is not a qualification in itself but a measure of whether a pupil has secured a C grade or better across the core subjects, including English and maths.

Students will then take A Levels, including the three sciences and maths, taught by "learning coaches" rather than teachers and "personal coaches" instead of teaching assistants.

Pupils will be required to complete one day of work experience a week, with paid placements built into the post-16 curriculum.

The school would be funded by Young People's Learning Agency, a governing quango which supports academies, and has been backed by businesses.

Crucially, Mr Eyton-Jones explained, classes would be no bigger than 15 pupils.

He said: "There's a lot of very bright young people who are not engaged by the GCSE curriculum. They are not getting the sort of results they could get because they do better with a hands-on approach to learning.

"What we are proposing is a very different way of delivering the GCSE curriculum. Very small class sizes is the secret to that."

An application will be submitted to the Department for Education later this month.

If successful there will be a public consultation with a view to the school opening in time for the 2013/14 intake.

Feedback from parents has so far been positive.

Mr Jones said: "This is an ambitious proposal built around high standards and aspirations, regardless of a pupil's prior attainment. It will be a school Croydon can be proud of."