A GROUP of students from the Bournemouth and Poole College have been awarded scientific technician status under a charitable foundation set up by Lord Sainsbury.

The mature students were presented with Gatsby Awards after working on mini scientific projects to prove their aptitude for biology and physics.

The award winners were Rob Lewis, Nevy Baze and Paul Malinowski for work on body armour, and Kate Wedge and Leigh Vaughan, both for work in the biological field.

The Bournemouth and Poole College was the lead college of five colleges in the country to pilot the new Access to HE Diploma in Science.

The programme has been an outstanding success, allowing students generally in their 20s and 30s, most in full or part-time work, to achieve level three qualifications – the equivalent of A-Level.

The work of the five Bournemouth and Poole winners shows how much potential there is for science.

A spokesman for the Gatsby Foundation said the pilot project had seen 200 students join the courses.

“Not only has this experience prepared them for science courses in higher education, but it has also brought the added benefit of helping them gain professional Registered Science Technician status (RSciTech) through the Royal Society of Chemistry,” said the spokesman.

Winners were presented with their awards at The Royal Society of Chemistry in London by the Society’s President Professor Dominic Tildesley and Kelly Vere STEM Technician of the Year.