Bradford pupils are feeling more confident about their looming exams thanks to an out-of-school scheme.

The Young Inspirers project, launched this year by Education Bradford, was set up to help secondary school students improve their grades and their life skills.

Role models have been working with the youngsters to motivate them, and teachers have been leading booster classes in English, mathematics and science to improve pupils' grades.

Since the programme started, 250 students from Nab Wood in Bingley, Carlton Bolling College in Undercliffe, Greenhead High in Keighley, and Grange Technology College in Haycliffe Hill have been attending the Saturday morning classes.

The sessions were designed to support pupils who were at risk of underachieving prepare for Key Stage 3 and 4 examinations.

Javid Bashir, the co-ordinator of Bradford Achievement Forum, has been fundamental in getting the project off the ground.

He said the response had been terrific and attendance was almost 100 per cent, despite being a voluntary option.

He said parents had been very supportive and shown a good level of involvement and commitment.

"I am certain that they will perform better than what was expected over two months ago, due to intervention of this programme," he said.

A spokesman for Education Bradford said the pupils involved in the project had been inspired and encouraged with the help they had been given from mentors.

"It is helpful for children and young people to have experience of real-life stories as well as completing school work," he said.

"What Javed has done is to get children who might not look high enough to aim higher and this project is helping young people look beyond their horizons."

Mhemona Saddique, 16, of West Bowling, who attends Grange Technology College, is studying for her GCSEs and is ten weeks in to the 16-week project.

She said: "We had group work and one-to-one work.

"I was having difficulty with maths, especially algebra, and the teachers showed me different ways to try and answer the questions."

Aeysha Ramzan, 16, of Marshfields, said: "It has helped me with revising, and made me realise how important education is."

Faraz Ahmed, 16, of Marshfields, said: "The teachers have given me more confidence and it has helped me particularly in science."

Dahnish Ali, 16, of Wibsey, said: "I have been doing these extra classes to help me get better grades, so I can stay on in the sixth form and get a better job."

Nazmin Din, community development manager of the Young Inspirers project at Grange Technology, said: "I am so proud of them. To see them walk in at 9.50am on a Saturday morning is amazing.

"The commitment by these students has been really impressive.

"They really are a credit to the school."

e-mail: ali.davies@bradford.newsquest.co.uk

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