Four students from a school in Weymouth attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace to pick up some prestigious awards.

Ellie Cleaver-Coles, Sam Breaks, Robyn Dennis and Kirsty Holmes are students at Budmouth College. They were awarded certificates for passing their gold standard Duke of Edinburgh's Awards.

There are eight Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Award ceremonies held in England each year, with the other seven hosted by St James' Palace in London. Luckily for these students, this was the first Duke of Edinburgh's Award ceremony this year, and the first one is always marked by a garden party at Buckingham Palace.

Sam Breaks, 18, said: "It was really great, we got to go to Buckingham Palace for a garden party and I met some of the royal family.

"I met Prince Andrew, Prince Edward, Princess Beatrice was there as well. What was great was that our awards were presented to us by Gina McKee from Line of Duty and The Bodyguard. We then got a photo with her afterwards with our certificates.

"I saw Chris Tarrant as well, there was a lot of famous people there actually. It was a really good day."

As well as getting his own Gold Award, Sam has also tutored fellow students James Piles, Freddie Allan and Aimee Hollings to get their Bronze Awards.

Samantha Temple, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award coordinator at Budmouth College, said: "At Budmouth we have over 400 students currently working on their Duke of Edinburgh's Awards, with 60 doing their Gold.

"We are very proud that, so far this year, 11 students have achieved their Gold Award. In July we have 14 students going to Dartmoor to complete their Gold assessed expedition.

"The Duke of Edinburgh's Award enables students to get recognition for activities and skills that they do both in college and in their own time. It is a nationally recognised award and is an indication to employers of students commitment and hard work."

According to the website, the DofE is the world’s leading youth achievement award, giving millions of 14 to 24-year-olds the opportunity to be the very best they can be.

To get a Gold Award, you must be 16 years old or over and complete 12 months of volunteering, a four-day expedition and various other elements as well.

To find out more about the award visit dofe.org