ALTON College students have celebrated the 14th Scholarships for Excellence Awards.

Held in the Wessex Arts Centre, Trevor Heley, managing director of the Alton College Foundation, opened the event by welcoming the students, parents, sponsors, college staff, governors and the Foundation directors who were there to celebrate the achievement of the successful scholars.

Launched by the Foundation in 2002, the scheme aims to “encourage students to be the best they can be” by providing a degree of financial support, backed by a belief that they can do well in their chosen subject, and engendering confidence that can be passed on to other people.

Mr Heley congratulated the new scholars who between them bring the number of Alton College students awarded scholarships over the past 14 years to 252.

And he thanked past and present sponsors and donors for their generosity in not only providing scholarships but also grants to students and donations to the college.

Thanks went too to college staff for their valuable support for the scheme and paid tribute to the high calibre of applications this year and the subsequent outstanding quality of the winning students.

The audience then heard from past scholar Chris Dominey,who explained what he had been doing since leaving the college and how a scholarship in modern languages had given him the inspiration to succeed in life.

Award winners:

Alton Chamber of Commerce and Industry Scholarship for excellence in business: Rachelle Evora.

Alton College Foundation Alumni Scholarship for geography: Amie Jones.

Alton Decorative and Fine Arts Society Scholarships: Matt Page, Nathan Ward and Eliza Rose Smith.

The Dischma Trust Scholarships for excellence: Imogen Andrews and Sara Armstrong (art), Annie Coloe (English), Samuel Thomas (geography), Chris Hughes (maths) and Megan Coates (performing arts), and Joe Beard (music).

The Craven Brothers Scholarships for excellence in engineering: Paul Cumner, Chris McLennan and Daniel Chung.

The Richard Frankel Memorial Scholarship for excellence in medicine: Gabrielle Kelly.

The Excellence in Science Scholarship: Tom Rodd (biology).

The George Heller Scholarship: Amy Ewen.

The Rotary Club of Alton Scholarship for maths: Steven Robertson.

The Alistair Graham Scholarship for excellence in modern languages: Klara Angeles.

The evening was brought to a close by Jane Machell, principal of Alton College, who thanked the Foundation sponsors and donors on behalf of the college and also her staff for their support in the selection process.

Ms Machell praised the “outstanding quality of all the applicants” and congratulated those receiving scholarships and their families for the support they had given them through their time at school and college.