THE Royal Forest of Dean College presented awards to students for a wide range of achievements at a recent prizegiving.
A wide range of ages also climbed the awards platform – from Joyce Roberts, who has continued to study A-levels long past her retirement age, to a toddler who insisted on accompanying his mum!
There was a specially loud round of applause for students from the second year business advance course for their support of fellow student Steve Biddington who has been in hospital since a serious accident last year.
Among notable prizewinners were Ray Oakey, whose life has been transformed after joining the college after seeing a literacy campaign on TV. He is now writing poetry and embarking on an autobiography.
Lia Zia Zheng has made great strides in English language qualifications while working full time in catering. Ben Lewis is the first student to gain full England under-18s colours at rugby while still at college.
Zephanie Bradley and Steven Matthews scooped the science prizes with seven A-grade passes at A-level between them.
The Arthur Watts trophy for the most outstanding overall student went to Matthew James who improved on average GCSE results with a remarkable four A-grade passes at A-level.
Guests for the evening were Jon James and Camilla Carr, who survived kidnap in Chechnya.
A raffle of the floral arrangements raised £100 to go to a charity supporting children in Chechnya.