A COURSE which helps struggling young people into work or further education has been described as "outstanding" by education watchdogs.

The adult learning inspectorate -- the Ofsted equivalent for adult education -- have given a 15 week life skills programme run by Bolton Youth Service grade II status.

The scheme helps 16 to18-year- olds find employment or go into further education and equips them with a variety of skills ranging from cooking to writing a curriculum vitae.

Senior youth worker Gerry Luczka, who manages the programme, said: "To receive a Grade II inspection is outstanding. It really is a big achievement, especially when you consider that we have only been operating for 18 months.

The programme is run on a continuous basis at Burnden Sports Complex by Bolton Council's youth service. Usually about 16 teenagers take part in the course at any one time and it is geared towards youngsters who want to get into employment but do not know how to go about it.

Youngsters attend the course five days a week. They are given lots of confidence building exercises as well as basic numeracy and literacy classes. To help them eventually find employment they are taught how to put a CV together and look at areas such as interview technique, the process of getting a job, and other issues facing young people.

Anyone who wants further information can contact 01204 332395.

Some of the teenagers live on their own and they are given cooking lessons and the chance to develop other useful skills such as how to wire plugs.

The programme also aims to discover what the natural skills and abilities of the teenagers are, with youth workers even using drama to unearth hidden talents.

Currently the scheme has an impressive 87 per cent retention rate and the programme is individually tailored to each youngster.

Gerry said: "It has been extremely successful in getting youngsters into employment or further education who have left school with no qualifications and low confidence."

The youngsters are given £40 a week plus travel expenses while they attend the course. Gerry explained that they would still receive that amount through jobseekers allowance even if they were not doing the course.

Currently there are vacancies on the programme, which has places for 18 youngsters in total.