A GROUP of year nine students from Knutsford Academy pitched to senior executives at Barclays this week in an initiative aimed at boosting their CVs.

The students travelled to Radbroke Hall on Monday for the Tech Innovation programme, which aims to help young people understand how IT is applied in a real work environment.

After receiving their initial briefing from Barclays IT colleagues at the end of October, 90 students were given a month to form small project teams and develop solutions or products to meet real IT-related scenarios.

The students from IT, marketing and digital media academic classes at Knutsford Academy then pitched their ideas to a panel of senior IT executives, and prizes were awarded for the most innovative idea and most successful team.

Gold Diggers won the award for the best use of technology, while Money Makers won the award for best pitch. The best idea on the day went to Zeffo.

Graham Bastin, head of Barclays IT infrastructure delivery and a governor at Knutsford Academy, said: “Barclays is delighted to lead this initiative with Knutsford Academy in its efforts to develop talented individuals who may one day want to work for an organisation like Barclays.

“This is one example of initiatives we are promoting to academic organisations in the north west.”

Christopher Parr, director of learning development at Knutsford Academy, said: “Knutsford Academy is proud to be working with Barclays on this exciting initiative which will provide a unique and challenging experience for our students.”