HIGH-FLYERS who are studying A-Levels in Barrow have met for their first event as Honours students.

The 22 Honours students have joined Barrow Sixth Form College, the Rating Lane campus of Furness College, after achieving top grades in their GCSEs at schools including St Bernard’s, Dowdales, Walney and Furness Academy.

Their grades mean they join the Honours programme and will specialise in their favourite subject with additional mentoring from expert tutors who challenge the students to bring out the best in them academically.

Guest speakers from Leeds University and the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust visited college to help inspire the students who are embarking on their Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). Rachel Daunton from the University of Leeds said the EPQ is a project that develops research skills and is highly-valued by universities. She said students should choose something they have a passion for. “That will keep you on track when you want to go out instead or you feel like giving up and you just need to keep going.

“This is the skill you are gaining, if you can keep yourself going that is a skill that will help you on your university career and as you grow up.” Leanne Cooper, a former Barrow Sixth Form College student, who is now a divisional manager at the hospitals trust spoke to the students about opportunities to get involved with a variety of clinical, business, finance and digital media projects at the trust.

Careers advisor Samantha Roberts, who organised the event, said many students applying to university were the first in their family to do so. “Supporting the high-achieving students through the Honours programme and EPQ qualification will not only give them the skills and confidence to reach their full potential but hearing from our guest speakers will also help raise their aspirations, ”she said.

The Honours programme is backed by Lancaster University, a UK top ten university. It is led by Steve Buckley of the Barrow Sixth Form.

The subjects include French, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology, law and history.