The University of Sunderland will set up a £10m University Technical College (UTC) at the Newton Aycliffe business park in Newcastle.
The UTC is being developed in collaboration between University of Sunderland, Hitachi Rail Europe and Gestamp Tallent.
The new college will offer future engineers between age of 14-18 years to pursue a course of study in Information Technology and Healthcare Science alongside traditional academic subjects.
Baker Dearing Educational Trust chairman Lord Baker said, "The UTC movement is gaining momentum and I am delighted to see that more young people in the North East will be able to benefit from a UTC education.
"More than 600 employers, both large and small, back UTCs because they can see they make sense.
"Northern Futures UTC is the second UTC to be announced in the North East and joins South Durham UTC which will open in 2016.
"Our challenge now is to ensure that young people and their parents have access to the information and advice they need to take advantage of this exciting and important technical provision."
The new UTC has been backed by companies including Accenture and Academic Health Sciences Networks. An industry-led initiative focusing on the growth of the tech sector in the North East called Dynamo is also supporting the project.
UTC Proposer Group lead, managing director Accenture and vice chair of Dynamo Bob Paton said, "Accenture is a strong supporter of the UTC movement because we believe practical, vocational education is essential to preparing young people in the North East for technology-based careers.
"The Northern Futures UTC will be a great asset to the region. It will inspire students to develop technology skills, thereby creating a pool of skilled, work-ready young people keen to pursue careers in high-growth sectors in the region."
