THE headteacher behind the country's first "surf sixth form" has said the traditional school curriculum "won't do" if the region is to heal its education divide.

The comments by Helen Mathieson, headteacher of Treviglas comprehensive in Newquay, comes on the back of new research highlighting huge inequalities across Devon and Cornwall.

Around 15 per cent of working adults have no qualifications in the constituencies of Plymouth Devonport, North Cornwall, and Falmouth and Camborne – above the national average of 12.4 per cent.

Elsewhere, just 5.95 per cent of adults in rural Honiton and Tiverton have no qualifications, the lowest proportion in the two counties.

The research, conducted by the lecturers' union UCU, also points to degree blackspots across the far South West.

More than 30 per cent of adults hold degree-level qualifications in Exeter, home to one of the country's leading universities and the heart of the region's professional services sector.

Just over 17 per cent of adults are graduates in Plymouth Devonport – ranking it 595th out of 628 constituencies across the country.

Moving away from a low-skill economy has been a central goal of the regeneration of the Westcountry.

The most obvious manifestation of this aspiration was the advent of the Combined Universities in Cornwall, opened in 2004, which many hoped would halt the migration of the brightest young people away from the region.

Mrs Mathieson says there needs to be more "flexibility" in parts of the region, such as North Cornwall, where "real social deprivation" and salaries routinely lower than the national average persist.

Seven years ago, Treviglas, a secondary school that specialises in business and enterprise, set up an experimental surf academy to lure young people off the beach and back into the classroom.

Mrs Mathieson explains the surf academy, which has seen pupils ranging in age from 16 to 32 take modules in surf science accredited by the University of Plymouth, was a "ruse".

The idea is to get youngsters on the road to university and into jobs in the surfing industry – one of the fastest growing sectors in the world.

Testament to the success of the school's "one size does not fit all" approach, the course claims a 100 per cent success rate in getting students into university or careers, a rate replicated across the school thanks in part to raft of specialist courses in technology, science and skills.

She said: "Our sixth form students smashed through the Government's target of 50 per cent into higher education several years ago even though we are a rural, seaside comprehensive.

"The 20th century curriculum model won't do.

"We need to ensure that there is breadth and depth in the curriculum that we offer the whole variety of individuals who are in our schools.

"The shape of schooling has changed, is changing and must change further to allow us to ensure our children have the skills for the future."