YOUNG bands hoping to make it big will be glad to know that radio station Xfm’s Rock School has returned for the third year running.

The competition, which aims to discover the next Oasis or Arctic Monkeys, offers young bands the chance to with “the ultimate rock star experience”.

This includes £1,000 to spend on music equipment for their school at Dawsons Music, a day’s recording at the Xfm Manchester studios, a rock’n’roll makeover courtesy of Bench and a professional photoshoot with rock photographer Shirlaine Forrest.

Term time at Xfm’s Rock School is well underway and bands have already started emailing in their versions of current and classic Xfm-style tracks.

Xfm Manchester presenter, Clint Boon, who made his mark on the Manchester indie rock scene with his band The Inspiral Carpets, said: “This is something that I have been really excited about after the success of last year. I can’t wait to see what secret prodigies are hidden out there in schools all over the North West.”

Last year Xfm was inundated with entries and the winning band was Tinmen who bowled over judges with their rousing version of Transmission by Joy Division which they got the opportunity to perform in front of Joy Division/New Order bassist, Peter Hook himself.

Frontman Jack Levy says, “Winning Rock School was the best thing we had ever experienced. Now we’re playing regular gigs and writing new material. It brought us closer and gave us extra determination to grow.”

Bands have until midnight on Wednesday November 26 to email in their mp3 but the sooner they enter, the sooner they can get on air.

For full details on how to enter go to xfm.co.uk/rockschool.