Employers including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic to help run new technical colleges

The colleges, which are essentially academies for 14- to 19-year-olds, are designed to offer young people technical learning in line with the needs of local businesses.

For example, one of the new university technical colleges will specialise in aviation engineering and will be located close to London Heathrow Airport.

Another will be based at the new MediaCityUK in Salford – home to a large proportion of the BBC and other media outlets – and will focus on the creative and digital industries.

The government hopes that university technical colleges will create opportunities for more than 20,000 young people to train as engineers and scientists.

The 15 new colleges are an addition to 17 that are already working toward opening this September or next. ?

Schools minister Lord Hill said: "Right around the country there is a lot of enthusiasm from employers, universities, pupils and parents for high-quality rigorous technical education.

"They provide more choice for children as well as helping provide the kind of highly skilled technicians our economy needs. The response from employers to university technical colleges speaks for itself.”

Dr Colin Brown, director of engineering at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, argued that the new colleges would help supply industry with the "right skills in the right places".

“In the institution's recent poll of 1,000 manufacturers, 76 per cent said that their companies are recruiting, but only 47 per cent of these are finding people with the right skills,” he said.

“Initiatives like these will hopefully help plug these gaps and train the engineers and technicians of tomorrow.”

But Brown criticised the coalition for reducing the value of the last government’s 14-19 diplomas, in terms of school league tables.

“The great missed opportunity is that the colleges are set up to teach the engineering diploma, which this government has now downgraded,” he said.

Young people will be able to choose to go to a university technical college at age 14 or 16.

Students will spend around 60 per cent of their time on core academic subjects, and the rest of their time learning specific technical skills and qualifications.

All university technical colleges are sponsored by a local university and employers. Many also run longer-term times and operate business hours to help prepare students for the world of work.