BURNLEY Football Club is to give free tickets to students who get good GCSE results.

‘Grades for Games’ will reward children at the town’s five high schools with five free match tickets if they get five A* to C passes in this summer’s exams, including maths and English.

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The project, the first in the country to offer the incentive, is the brainchild of the Clarets chief executive Lee Hoos, who also serves as chairman of Burnley FC in the Community.

He said he hoped the incentive would raise aspirations among young people.

Last year, 53 per cent of pupils in Burnley achieved five A* to C grades and it is hoped this will increase to 60 per cent with this move, meaning almost 540 students who go to Unity College, Hameldon College, Shuttleworth College, Blessed Trinity RC College and Sir John Thursby Community College would be eligible.

Mr Hoos said: “This initiative is the first of its kind anywhere in the country and we hope it will give students an additional incentive to achieve.

“There has always been an extremely close relationship between Burnley Football Club and the town.

“We believe in our young people and are positive that we can have a positive impact on GCSE results in order for students to get a good foundation of qualifications to move either into further education or employment.

“That, in turn, will have a very beneficial effect on the entire town.

“One of the issues is that in Burnley, we don’t attain the national average at GCSE and so we looked at ways we could incentivise the youngsters to do better.”

Almost 900 students are due to take their GCSEs in Burnley this summer.

On an average home match day, almost 25 per cent of the town’s 75,000 population go to Turf Moor to support their team.

The scheme has been welcomed by schools and teaching unions, who said anything that encouraged young people to do better at school had to be welcomed.

Headteacher at Sir John Thursby David Burton said: “Sir John Thursby Community College students and staff are big supporters of Burnley Football Club.

“The successes of the school and the club mean we are both in the Premier League and we are delighted that our students’ academic success can be rewarded at our local football club.”

Ruth England, who is the headteacher at Shuttleworth, added: “At a time when students are working as hard as they can for their exams, it’s an added incentive which helps keep them motivated.”

Simon Jones, from the National Union of Teachers in East Lancashire, said he believed the Grades for Games pilot was a great idea, but that a more vibrant jobs market in the area would be a better incentive for students who work hard to get those all important grades.

He said: “I would encourage other clubs to so the same. Anything that can act as an incentive has to be a positive thing.

“I do not think it is the magic bullet, but every little does help.

“The real defection come from the way the jobs market and employment prospects are for the future.

“I think we also need to do something about tuition fees because children cannot afford to even think about going to university. And then they wonder what the point is if there is not going to be a job at the end of it.”

Burnley MP Gordon Birtwistle said it was great to see the football club doing all it could to improve exam results.

He said: “It’s a great idea. The club is showing how keen they are, and giving tickets away is great for the community and is a great incentive for students.”