Where possible, teachers relate these subjects to the school's specialism so at the JCB academy, where the specialism is engineering, teenagers analyse the words in a car advert as part of their English lesson and write essays on Sir Frank Whittle, the English inventor of the turbojet engine.
It will be the first in the country to offer specialisms in marine engineering and environmental technology to its pupils, aged 14 to 18.
There are many different specialisms within civil engineering, including environmental, structural, municipal, transport and geotechnical.
There are two types of civil engineering roles within the various specialisms: consultants who focus on design work and generally spend more time in the office or working with clients, and contractors who are more involved with keeping an eye on the physical construction and are usually based on-site.
There will also be vocational specialisms such as engineering, construction, business or medical care.
The technical and design mastermind of Plotgate is Britton, 42, who graduated in Engineering from Strathclyde with a specialism in Naval Design.
He began with "infrastructure is a long word that doesn't necessarily mean a lot to many people", before reading out a dictionary definition of infrastructure to a bemused audience of policy wonks and engineering company bosses whose main specialism – apart from hoovering up government very-long-word-infrastructure contracts – is talking wonkese with very long words.
They always have a specialism such as engineering, science technologies and health care.
While women now outnumber men among university students, and while they have succeeded in moving into some highly sought-after professional pathways – such as in law and medicine – they are still very much the minority in some prestigious academic specialisms which lead to well-paid careers – engineering, information technology, economics, and science-based subjects more generally.
The schools have a specialism, which tends to be engineering but for some will be construction, digital media or anything that requires practical skills and specialised equipment.
