SCHOLARSHIPS of more than £16,000 have been awarded to students about to head off to start a new life at university.
The Mewhort Scholarship is a unique financial reward, exclusive to students of Teesdale School sixth form who have achieved academic excellence and made a valuable contribution to the community.
This year the top prize went to Scarlett Ballantine.
Ms Ballantine, from Mickleton, was awarded the top prize of £1,500 for each year of her undergraduate study.
She impressed a panel of trustees with her academic achievements of an A* in sociology and a B in both history and psychology, along with her community involvement and commitment to social justice in the North East.
Ms Ballantine intends to develop her activism while studying sociology and
politics at Newcastle University.
Sadie Askwith, Holly Palarm, Evie Ridgway and Jenny Teward were each awarded £1,000 per year of undergraduate study.
Ms Askwith, who achieved two A*, in Art and English Literature, as well as a B in history, will be studying fine art and art history at Manchester University.
She will be joined by Miss Teward who is going to read history and sociology. Miss Palarm is moving to Lancaster to study business management and Miss Ridgway is off to Bristol to pursue her interest in anthropology.
Oliver Smith, a member of the scholarship panel, said: “It is fantastic that the scholarships continue to reward the academic excellence and we are really impressed with all the candidates this year.”
Another group of Mewhort Scholars wrote to the trust to tell them of their recent success. Faye Pickering, Matthew Littlefair and Bethany Howson all graduated this year with first class honours degrees.
