TWO Okehampton students were among the 28 student award winners celebrated in style at the Exeter College Student Awards 2013-2014.

Charlotte Dean, 26, won the Access to Higher Education Student of the Year award for her 'consistently high quality of work in this challenging course'. Her tutor described how she often helped other students who found it harder to complete their work and said 'she was a pleasure to teach, a real credit to the college and was a true example of someone with the ambition to succeed'.

Now studying accountancy and finance at the University of Exeter, Charlotte described the Access to HE courses as helping her to kick-start her future, adding that the college was supportive, challenging and life-changing.

She said: 'I'm hoping that I will become a chartered accountant in the future.'

Emily Colling, 17, from Okehampton, scooped the prestigious Michael Caines Academy Student of the Year award.

She was described as an outstanding member of the specialist hospitality and catering academy set up by the college's Michelin starred famous chef alumni in an innovative partnership sponsored by City and Guilds and supported by a range of industry leaders.

Her tutors described Emily's progress in the college as 'very impressive' and went on to say 'Emily achieved such progress through her exceptional commitment and her desire to improve her skills and it is not just for her culinary skills that she is being rewarded tonight but she was always the first to volunteer for extra curricular events, was a model student within the academy and a great ambassador for the whole catering department'.

Emily recently won the high profile South West Chef of the Year competition — student chef category — beating students from across the Westcountry.

Emily has now successfully graduated from the academy but continues her professional cookery training at the college while she works as a level 3 apprentice at the 2 Rivers restaurant in Okehampton.