It’s been another great result for Access to Higher Education Diploma in Business at City of Westminster College, with five students celebrating scholarship awards with their tutor Hilary Matthews.

 

These scholarships enable our students to move on to higher education courses in the Business field at University of Westminster and are awarded to candidates who show great potential. Gold Scholarships (worth £4,000) have been awarded to Siobhan Aziz and Adriel Thomas, while Silver Scholarships (£2,000) have been awarded to Raul Hernandez, Edvin Manushi and Julia Ryabchych.

 

Adriel Thomas, 22, is originally from Vancouver, Canada and begins an Economics degree course this autumn. Adriel, who worked as a waiter to fund the one-year course, says: “I came to the UK around four years ago as a musician, but I didn’t see a lot of future in it. I met a lot of people working in banking and finance, and that made me interested in studying Economics.

 

“The course has been intense and challenging because it required a lot of work, although I didn’t find the content overwhelming. I’d recommend Access, and thanks to this scholarship I have a pot of money to help take care of costs at university. It’s early days, but I hope to have the chance to work in the UK when I graduate.”

Julia Ryabchych, 33, is originally from Ukraine and came to the UK eight years ago to join her family. Having supported herself through College by working as a freelance hairdresser, she will study Accounting with Management. Julia says: “All my life I’ve wanted to move on to higher education. I have an aptitude for maths and numbers – I find them much easier than languages – and this is a field that will enable me to work in any department of any company.

 

“I didn’t find the Access course too much of a shock and because we were studying for three days a week, this gave me time to manage studying and working. I would recommend this course – and thanks to Hilary and her support with the course and the scholarship application I have enough money now to focus only on my studies!”

 

City of Westminster College Business and Community Studies Lecturer Hilary Matthews has been assisting students apply for scholarships to University of Westminster since 2006 and a total of 39 Access to Business students have received awards, enabling them to pursue their studies in Business and Management fields at degree level.
 
Access to HE Diploma is an intensive one-year course accredited by the Open College Network London Region. It is designed for adults (19+) who have missed out on previous education opportunities and want to move on to higher education courses. In addition to Business, City of Westminster College offers Access in Humanities & Social Sciences, Nursing, Photography and Science. There is also a Pre-Access Science & Health Studies programme.

 

Photo: Business and Community Studies Lecturer Hilary Matthews (centre), with (from left) scholarship winners Siobhan Aziz, Adriel Thomas, Julia Ryabchych, Edvin Manushi and Raul Hernandez.

 

Further information:

• City of Westminster College is a leading London further education college with three centres in central London – Paddington Green Campus, Queens Park Campus and the Cockpit Theatre – and a range of outreach centres. 
• The College offers some 250 academic and vocational courses to over 7,000 students each year. Specialisms include Digital Media, Engineering, Music Technology, Science and Sport.
• City of Westminster College is an associate of Middlesex University and University of Westminster. It is also a Founder College of the National Skills Academy for Creative and Cultural Skills and a member of Westminster Skillset Media Academy with the University of Westminster.
• The College’s £102m Paddington Green Campus opened in January 2011 and is a flagship building for the Further Education sector, featuring outstanding teaching and learning facilities.
• The new Campus has won a 2011 RIBA Award and has been nominated for the NLA New London Awards.