A GROUP of Okehampton College sixth form students have shown they have a head for business after scooping a top accolade for their entrepreneurial skills in the Young Enterprise project.

The Year 12 students were given the prize by the Devon and Cornwall Institute of Directors for the most entrepreneurial board of directors.

Teacher David Hunt said Young Enterprise was not part of the time-tabled curriculum and was open to students taking a wide range of courses not just those doing business studies.

?There is only one student that is doing AS-level business studies. It is all extra-curricular work. The meetings are held during lunchtimes,? he said.

The team of 13 students, who chose the company name Creation, wanted to create their own distinctive t-shirts but needed to raise capital to get their project off the ground.

They did this by organising discos at the college for other age groups.

The group are now investigating the possibility of staging a battle of the bands competition in Okehampton to support young musicians from the town and the surrounding area.

The Young Enterprise competition runs until the end of the summer term and the company is still looking at new opportunities to sell their t-shirt designs.

The team was awarded the prize last Tuesday at an awards evening in Exeter.

Mr Hunt, who was link teacher between Young Enterprise and the students said the group had received some guidance from a business planning advisor from the Okehampton branch of HSBC.

The students who created ?Creation? are: Vicky Catt, Emma Crawford, Paul Cross, Angelique De Lafontaine, James Hanington, Hayley Jones, Kerry Madge, Wende Mwenitete, Daniel Piddington, Adrian Plumpton, Catherine Pratt, Carissa Rafferty and Hayley Smith.

The Young Enterprise scheme gives students real business experience by helping them set up a company which designs a product or provides a service to the public while trying to make a profit.