By Justin Parkinson BBC News Online education staff

Next stop: an inner-city cash point

You would think fighting drug lords, tracking terrorists and protecting heads of state were more their style.

But former members of the Special Air Service - or SAS - are using their world-renowned skills to help another vulnerable group look after themselves: university students.

Pupils at Tain Royal Academy, in the Highlands, are used to feeling safe when they walk the streets, as the area has the lowest crime rate in the UK.

When the time comes to go to university, they may find it hard to cope with the threats posed by big-city living.

Cash machine etiquette

So the head teacher, Donnie Macleod, has enlisted the help of Alan Bell, an unarmed combat expert with 22 years' service in the SAS.

Final-year pupils learn how to spot a potential aggressor, the basics of self-defence and skills used every day by city dwellers, such as making sure no one is watching while they use cash machines.

Mr Macleod said: "We are doing this in anticipation of any problems faced. We are trying to raise students' awareness.

"As part of our personal and social education courses, younger students are taught basic things like not opening the door to strangers.

We thought the message might get through better if we brought in an outside expert Donnie Macleod, head teacher

"But they live in a small town, with only a couple of thousand inhabitants. They face a lot more hazards when they go off to places like Edinburgh, Glasgow and London."

The half-day courses emphasise avoiding trouble, rather than confronting it. The skills learned include speaking calmly when threatened.

Mr Bell teaches the basics of self-defence, in case the situation deteriorates, with a reminder of what is within the law and what is not.

Mr Macleod said: "The local police are involved too. We thought the message might get through better if we brought in an outside expert.

"It seems to have had an effect. The students are enthusiastic and this should stand them in better stead."

Some 43 of the 70 final-year students at Tain Royal Academy have applied to universities.

The SAS was started during the Second World War, to carry out missions behind German lines in north Africa.

It was also deployed in Northern Ireland against the IRA and also saw action in the Falklands and the two Gulf wars.