Brighton's reputation as a creative city was bolstered last night with the launch of a £500,000 digital design school.

The centre of vocational excellence (CoVE) at City College Brighton and Hove aims to provide new media businesses with better skilled workers.

Students will be offered a broad range of qualifications in graphic design, digital imaging, animation, video production and website design.

The college was given CoVE status by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) in recognition of the high quality of its multimedia courses.

LSC chiefs have been impressed by the links the college has forged with Brighton's new media businesses, such as Babel Media.

Last year the college ran a Game Girl competition in partnership with Babel and Wired Sussex, to get more women into the computer gaming industry.

Now they have been given half a million pounds to develop similar training programmes with Brighton and Hove companies during the next three years.

The money has already paid for 50 new computers and equipment. CoVE manager Chris Piper said: "We are not just talking Photoshop here, new media businesses want highly-skilled employees.

"But this project will only work if businesses tell us what they need and work with us to provide the most appropriate training."

The CoVE project will be reviewed by the Sussex LSC after a year.

If the council is impressed, the centre will be given full CoVE status.

Writer and broadcaster Simon Fanshawe said: "Many cities claim they are a hub of creativity in the digital age. Brighton actually is.

"So it's completely appropriate that City College has won this accolade from the LSC to establish a centre of excellence for digital design.

CoVE will also work closely with secondary schools in Brighton and Hove wanting to offer vocational courses.

Thursday February 05, 2004