FIVE college students who have been awarded Student of the Year titles in recognition of their personal and academic achievements throughout the 2018/19 academic year.

Student of the Year trophies were presented in five categories at York College; A-levels, vocational, higher education/adult, foundation maths and foundation English.

The A-level award went to former Selby High student Blake Chaplin who studied A-levels in economics, modern history and maths. Blake has been awarded an academic scholarship to one of the top liberal arts colleges in America; Amherst, Massachusetts. The scholarship includes academic fees and living expenses and travel home once a year, it is worth approximately $78,000 per year for a four year course. The scholarship process has been supported by the Sutton Trust and is given by Amherst.

Level 2 information and creative technology student Hollie Wallbank won the vocational award. On her study days Hollie also studies at St John’s Catholic School for the deaf therefore, unlike a lot of students, she works full-time, 5 days a week. She also travels a near 300 mile round-trip at weekends to go home - requiring her to set off at 5am to attend College on Monday.

The HE/adult award went to Katie Laskey who studies an Access HE Diploma in nursing and midwifery. Katie has shown incredible resilience and courage managing her interviews and college work whilst her baby son was in hospital. Always professional, Katie has demonstrated exceptional qualities that suggest she is going to make an outstanding paediatric nurse. She has shown incredible determination over the year, liaising with staff when the need arose and she has epitomised the values embedded in the nursing code of practice. Despite her personal circumstances, she has achieved an outstanding number of Distinction grades, reflecting her academic ability, excellent attendance, organisation and work ethic. Katie is holding two offers for paediatric nursing at local universities and is sure to have a wonderful career ahead of her.

Tareq Aloush won the foundation maths award. Tareq is a former ESOL student and he is currently studying Level 3 information technology as well as maths and English. Tareq had no formal prior attainment in maths and he was initially given a Grade 1 target grade, but he was not content with this and set himself a more challenging target of a Grade 4. Over the year his maths tutors have been so impressed with his efforts, saying he has worked tirelessly to ensure he makes progress.

The foundation English award went to Ibu Majid (main programme: Level 2 Diploma Sport)

Ibu has shown an extraordinary amount of determination and commitment to learning English and preparing for the GCSE exams.

Lee Probert, chief executive and principal of York College, presented each student with a Student of the Year trophy and prize, saying: “I am incredibly proud to recognise the achievements of our Students of the Year, who are most deserving of their individual accolades. They have each demonstrated a massive commitment to their studies and they have worked so effectively alongside their tutors. They have also shown a wonderful generosity towards their fellow students, which is so commendable, especially when at times they have faced their own adversities. I thank them for their contribution to the life of the college and wish them every success as they progress onto the next stage of their careers.”