STUDENTS from Prestwich Arts College will no longer be able to claim their dog ate their homework - when they are given their very own laptops.

That age-old excuse for missed deadlines will become a thing of the past from November when 103 all pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 - about one in five from those year groups - will get the personal computers to take home, costing the school £50,000.

It is part of headteacher Geoff Barlow’s campaign to help children meet the demands of 21st-century employers whose businesses are thriving in creative industries, especially in the north.

In the next few years, thousands of BBC staff will be relocated to Salford, where a new ‘media city’ is springing up.

Already, about 450 pupils, from years ten and 11, have got their own pen drives, which are tiny devices that allow them to save their work on one computer and quickly transfer it to another.

The school has extensive computer facilities and many classrooms have been fitted with data projectors and computerised whiteboards to take the place of traditional blackboards.

In the near future, a £450,000 Government grant will help the school build a state-of-the-art recording studio and to introduce a create and media diploma course.

Mr Barlow said: “The growth of the creative and media industries and the forthcoming arrival of the BBC would provide some significant and exciting opportunities for students.

“These new initiatives will ensure that our students continue to receive the very best resources appropriate to 21st-century learning.”