From September 27 to October 1 we will be celebrating the achievements of our incredible young people through our student awards.
Every year we take the time to shine a light on our students who have gone above and beyond to make the grades they need to secure places at top universities.
The David Farnham Tutorial Award
The David Farnham Tutorial Award celebrates the dedication of our students who attended 100% of their tutorials throughout the year. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic over the last year makes this achievement particularly noteworthy, since students had to surmount new obstacles to continue their schooling.
The prize is named after Professor David Farnham, who was dedicated to helping young people realise their goals in life. Professor Farnham was himself awarded a prize at school for 100% attendance over 4 years in 1951- 1955, before leaving school at age 19 to do his National Service. He went on to have a distinguished career in education.
In 2019 Professor Farnham’s family made a generous donation to The Access Project that helped us grow into more schools and adapt our programme to respond to the pandemic.
Learning during the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a particularly challenging period for disadvantaged young people. Staying connected to their learning from afar, spending long periods of time isolated from their friendship groups, struggling to learn in digital poverty, and trying to study in crowded living spaces are just a few of the obstacles that some of our students have had to surmount.
Our Programme and Volunteering Director, Lucy Ball, said: “It’s hard enough for disadvantaged young people to secure the grades needed to get a place at a top university in normal times, let alone during a global pandemic. This is why our student awards this week are so important – we want to celebrate the achievements of our young people because they really are beating the odds.”
The David Farnham Tutorial Award winners
Hazera, Year 11, Hornsey School for Girls
Hazera’s University Access Officer said: “Hazera was a star on the Access Project throughout her time at Hornsey, attending 45 tutorials with her tutor James last year. James is one of our more experienced tutors and has been very supportive to accept another student this year. Hazera met with me well after her GCSEs ended to discuss sixth form options and did many tutorials with James over the summer in preparation for studying A-level Maths. She achieved a 7 in GCSE Maths and made great strides throughout the year, coping well with the move online.”
Jessica, Year 13, St George’s Roman Catholic School
Jessica’s University Access Officer said: Jessica had far more tutorials than her peers over her time in Sixth Form – this is a real testament to her hard work and ambition. Over the two years she developed a close relationship with her tutor, who supported her through Maths and Further Maths A-Level, and the Maths Admissions Test. This has resulted in Jessica placing at a top third university to study Maths.
Petru, Year 13 from Moseley School and Hanah, Year 13 from Chelsea Academy have also won the David Farnham Tutorial Award
More winners to be announced
We will be posting more about the student award winners over the course of the week on our news page.