Outstanding students at West Thames College in Isleworth were recognised at its annual awards ceremony.

More than 50 students, from academic high-fliers to those who have overcome the odds to succeed, were honoured at the event last Thursday, June 26.

The students of the year were: motor vehicle maintenance student George Johnson, for ‘academic achievement’; English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) student Saneela Mirza Saleem, for ‘determination’; and media student Jake Champion, for ‘contribution to the college’.

The awards were presented by Fraser Doherty, who was just 14 when he started the conserve company Superjam using his grandmother’s secret recipe.

He was joined on stage by former students who have gone on to forge successful careers, including the National Youth Theatre’s Josephine Balfour-Oatts and Neil Maximin, a graphic designer with the FA.

The annual awards ceremony at West Thames College, in Isleworth. University of Cambridge academic and former college student Theodore Menelik shares his story

Also among the returning students was Theodore Menelike, who spoke little English when he arrived in the UK as a refugee in 1989 but went on to become a Cambridge University lecturer after studying business at the college.