A woman who wanted to be a glamorous civil engineer in a pink hard hat and a man who wanted to be a professional footballer are now the new heads of English and maths at Devizes School.

But Bethan Wynn-Jones, 36, and Mark Shadrick, 29, are deadly serious about their new roles and are determined to work as hard as they possibly can to help improve GCSE results at the school.

Acting head Sue Marshall has set a target of 65 per cent for next year after the school got a disappointing 48 per cent of pupils receiving five A* to C grades, or more, including English and maths.

Mr Shadrick, who has come to Devizes after seven years teaching maths at Sheldon School in Chippenham, said: "It is an ambitious target but we think we can get there or there about.

"For me it is all about making the subject fun and relevant. I am quite young to be head of a faculty like maths but I am confident I can deliver."

Mr Shadrick, who grew up in Cornwall and once had trials for Plymouth Argyle, studied maths at Bath University and then went to Cardiff to gain his PGCE.

Miss Wynn-Jones, has just returned to the UK after seven years teaching at a British school in Dubai. She grew up in North Wales with Welsh as her first language and studied at Cardiff University.

She said: "I originally signed up to do civil engineering. I had visions of me looking glamorous in a pink hat but after a week I realised it wasn't for me and I swapped to English Literature and loved it."

The pair believe that it is an exciting time to be at Devizes School and want to work together to improve results.

They have already started hour long after school sessions on Tuesday and Thursdays for 22 students who they think with a bit of work could move from a grade D to the all important C.

Mr Shadrick said: "These are key students who could miss out on a grade C in either English or maths without intervention.

"So far the take-up has been good. We have got parents involved so they realise the importance of the classes."

Miss Wynn-Jones said: "We are very enthusiastic about our subjects and we hope this rubs off on the students."

The pair also want to make sure that other ability groups are not forgotten and have plans for workshops and competitions to push the most gifted.