Young musicians earn places at prestigious Sir Paul McCartney college

Owen Doherty and Declan Dean started a band together after meeting at school

Two college classmates from Derby have earned places at a prestigious music school founded by Sir Paul McCartney.

Owen Doherty and Declan Dean, who have graduated from Derby College, will study at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) in September.

The friends, who are both 18, were awarded places after achieving distinctions in their music performance diploma.

LIPA attracts more than 3,000 applications a year for 250 places.

Mr Dean, who plays bass guitar, started playing music when he met Mr Doherty at school.

'My heart sank'

He said he originally chose to study psychology, computer science and maths for his A-levels but swapped to music because he ended up "being bad at maths".

He added: "Being a bassist myself and going to the place co-founded by Sir Paul McCartney is just surreal - he was bassist for one of the most legendary bands that has ever existed.

"As a bassist myself I think I'm going to be quite in demand because mostly guitarists and singers will have applied.

"I was in the city centre at the time I found out; I heard my phone go off and my heart sank. I made a fool of myself because I was so excited!"

The pair studied at Derby College's Joseph Wright Centre

The university-level institute was co-founded by Mark Featherstone-Witty and Beatles legend Sir Paul on the site of his old school, the Liverpool Institute for Boys.

Mr Doherty said despite playing guitar since the age of seven, he had not considered making music his career.

He added: "I was obviously thrilled when I found out. I didn't know if I got in - I felt my audition was quite strong - but I was still shocked. It's where I've wanted to go for a while.

"[The audition] presented itself as quite a challenge but I had to trust the fact that I'd spent a lot of time practising and that I have my own identity. I had two songs to show them who I am and that was my mindset during the process.

"I'm looking forward to meeting lots of people and continuing to practice, plus there's a whole side of the industry I still need to learn."