STUDENTS have put the finishing touches to a state-of-the-art hair and beauty salon that started life as a derelict classroom.

Just five years ago Bicester Community College, in Queens Avenue, launched a hairdressing course as part of a scheme to ensure every student left school with a qualification.

Initially pupils worked in a basic salon until the derelict building was transformed into a modern training salon several years ago.

But the course, which attracts students from county secondary schools, proved so popular that more space was needed.

Thanks to a £165,000 grant from 14 to 19 Partnership, the building has been extended to include a beauty salon, which means the school can offer an NVQ qualification from September.

Head of hair and beauty Gill Joy said: “Originally, I set it up in a primitive classroom and it has become very successful.

“The diploma course makes the students more employable and they get an underlying knowledge of the industry from here.

“They are skills that are recognised at vocational level and we are teaching to industry standards.

“People need to come and see it because it’s spectacular.”

The hair and beauty courses attract more than 60 students, aged 14 to 19, from across Oxfordshire.