The 2017 Bursary Award winners, pictured front row from left to right, Natalie Chapman, Jason Quach, Simon Campbell Colwill, Ella Jones and David Pearce. Middle row: Daniel Williams-Ruiz, Soraya George, Rebecca Teagles and Natasha Rai. Back row: Triveni Patel and Alex Keir.

Star students from the West Midlands have been awarded bursaries worth £3,000 per year by OCR to support their studies at Cambridge University. In its 14th year, OCR’s bursary fund was set up to enable talented West Midlands students to make the most of their time at Cambridge.

The students received the bursaries at a ceremony at OCR’s Coventry offices on 20 September and will be starting a range of degree courses, from Architecture to Philosophy, next week. The students took A Levels at schools and colleges in Birmingham, Coventry, Rugby, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Walsall, Nuneaton, Telford and Oswestry.

Simon Lebus, Chair of OCR and Chief Executive of its parent organisation Cambridge Assessment, congratulated the students on their achievements. He said: “This year’s applicants were such an incredibly talented group of students that we gave a higher number of awards than in many previous years. All 13 are not only high achievers academically but go way beyond the curriculum to extend their studies – one even won the competition to design the back of the new £1 coin. Others have won Gold in the Senior Mathematics Challenge, written a novel and an essay for publication. All have also shown themselves to be good citizens through mentoring younger students and charity work locally and overseas. Many have overcome adversity and I hope the OCR bursary will go towards helping any financial pressures that could get in the way of them making the most of their study and lives at Cambridge. We wish them great success at university and beyond.”

Jason Quach (pictured left receiving his award from Simon Lebus) attended Thomas Telford School and will be studying Engineering. He commented: “I feel incredibly honoured to have been awarded the OCR bursary. It has taken a huge weight off my shoulders as I progress on to studying at Cambridge, allowing me to concentrate on my studies and get the most out of my time at Cambridge without having to worry about my finances. I will be using the bursary for the cost of course books, visits and travel costs amongst other expenses.”

Find out about the application process for the OCR bursary scheme here.