By Katherine Sellgren BBC News Online Education staff

Hannah and Isthi are both heading off to Selfridges in July

An apprentice scheme for young people with no qualifications lifts them out of unemployment and gets them a head start in the world of retail.

Most young people have to acquire a certain number of qualifications before getting a place on their chosen college course.

But for 45 youngsters in inner-London, the requirement is precisely not to have too good a track record.

Students had to have fewer than three GCSEs to be considered for a place on a retail modern apprentice course at Lewisham College, Tower Hamlets and London College of Communications.

The skills4industry-retail scheme, which will see 45 inner-city students taking up retail jobs at John Lewis, Selfridges, Boots, Tesco and Dixons, is aimed at young people who have under-achieved at school and who are at risk of disaffection and unemployment.

"It's about young people who haven't got any qualifications to get an opportunity to work in a large retail store and to move on up and progress in that organisation," says Femi Bola, assistant director of workforce development at Lewisham College.

Femi Bola: "Failure is not an option"

"We're trying to guarantee not just entry into employment but success when they get that job."

The 20-week course, sponsored by Deloitte, covers a range of topics from discrimination in the workplace to health and safety and from merchandising to interpreting customer body language.

Students sit eight exams in total and have to complete a 750-word dissertation. After completing the course next month, they begin a seven-month placement with their chosen employer.

The thrust of the course, though, is "soft skills" - dressing for success, confidence, understanding attendance and punctuality.

"There's a big issue of employability. Employers were saying people are just not job and work minded," says Ms Bola.

And the employers have been very much involved in the development of the course.

"It's not just us saying this is the curriculum and it's fixed. We asked them 'What kind of person are you looking for?' rather than 'What qualification do you want us to run?'" .

'I was losing hope'

For Hannah, 17, who left school two months before her GCSEs, the retail apprenticeship may one day prove the realisation of a long-held dream.

Hannah left school with no GCSEs

"I always wanted to manage my own store - my own clothes stall. But that was more of a dream than making it a career."

Isthi Choudhury, 19, had dropped out of an IT course at college and had left a retail job for personal reasons. He was beginning to lose hope.

"I thought it was just a normal course that would get me nothing, but I was definitely wrong, it's a great course.

"It's given me a better chance to progress in a job.

"There are so many young people like us who just haven't had the same chance. We're lucky - it should be available to others," says Isthi.

Shalina Alabaksh has high hopes for the trainees

Shalina Alabaksh, learning programmes manager at Selfridges, says the course gives these students an edge over other applicants.

"At the end of this programme, we'll have six motivated, confident, competent college students who want to be part of our culture.

"If we can equip them to do that, that can only be good for our organisation. I'm hoping they'll stay with us for a long while."

Slave labour?

While on their seven-month placement, the students receive a trainee wage, negotiated by the employers involved in the project. It averages about half the normal salary of a sales assistant.

So is this just a cheap way for the companies to fill a vacancy for seven months?

Isthi Choudhury says others should have the same opportunity

"We don't have to do this - we're a profit-making company. But what's important is the development of young people," says Ms Alabaksh from Selfridges.

The students themselves are not concerned about working at a reduced cost.

"It's not a big deal, it's not something they have to do. Anyway, after seven months hopefully we will be working there and getting a full-time wage," says Isthi.

"And even if we don't get a job, it's on our CV and will impress future employers. They're doing us a favour."

"It is work experience and people don't get paid for that," says Hannah.

Thinking big

For Ms Bola the main thing about this apprentice scheme is to meet the specific needs of this particular group of young people.

"At the moment we have a one-size-fits-all system and I want to provide a multi-size system.

"It's quite common for these youngsters to say "I hated school, no-one tells me what to do, I'm going to run my own store!'

"Because I'm starting off with students who've been seen as under-achievers - and I'm not saying they are under-achievers because they're not - I have to think big for them.

"And as soon as I do that, they think big too," says Ms Bola.

"Failure is not an option because I know every single one of them can do it."

No pressure then!