British Council Awards shine spotlight on international student's achievements
22 / 04 / 2009
London, 22 April 2009. The British Council has named Matthew Morton from the United States as its International Student of the Year.
24-year-old Matthew – who is undertaking a DPhil in Youth Development in the Middle East at Oxford University – was one of 12 regional finalists selected out of over 1,500 students of 118 different nationalities who entered this year’s International Student Awards competition, known as Shine!
His “letter home” describing his experiences of living and studying in the UK was judged to be the best and the most inspiring by a panel of education professionals and officials from the British Council, the National Union of Students, government departments and regional development agencies.
The judges’ decision was announced this evening at a glittering awards ceremony in London hosted by Moira Stewart OBE and attended by all the finalists with representatives of their universities, further and higher education colleges, schools and English language institutions.
Shine! is the only competition that celebrates international students’ unique contributions to life in Britain, taking into account a wide variety of achievements and activities rather than focussing solely on academic work. Entrants are asked to describe in a letter how their experiences in UK institutions and communities have helped them develop new life skills and influenced their interests and goals, and how they have contributed to life in Britain.
Matthew’s winning letter tells how his experiences while studying in the UK have included helping to develop a youth empowerment project in a deprived area of Oxford to coach young people in developing their confidence and skills, taking part in a youth mentoring scheme, and setting up a partnership with an Albanian youth group. He has also acted as a consultant to a work group with the European Commission focussing on social and economic development, and played an active part in the UK’s first National Student Leadership Forum held at the Scottish Parliament.
Accepting a trophy and £2,000 prize, Matthew said: “For me, Shine seemed like a great opportunity to bring attention to the youth projects that I work with. I thought that however far I progressed, it could only have a good outcome for those groups. I’ve enjoyed connecting with the other finalists -- all of them are astonishing, and it’s been great to hear about their many achievements.”
The other eleven regional finalists each received a £1,000 prize and a commemorative award. Their letters also told of extraordinary achievements during their time in the UK -- including supporting victims of domestic violence, mentoring teenagers living on deprived estates, launching new charities and businesses, and entering British parliamentary life.
Martin Davidson, the British Council’s chief executive, said: “Studying overseas is an incredibly exciting and rewarding experience, building life-long international friendships, understanding and trust. International students make a huge contribution to life here because they create a greater understanding of the world in the UK and they help create a greater understanding of the UK throughout the world. This competition is a fantastic opportunity for them to show the world what they’ve achieved and learnt while studying in the UK.”
Ends
For press enquiries about the International Student Awards 2009, please contact James Rowe at the British Council Press Office on 020 7389 4939 / 07771 718135 or email james.rowe@britishcouncil.org
Notes to Editors· There are currently over 460, 000 international students studying in higher and further education in UK. More than 20, 850 studied at UK independent schools in 2006-7, while an estimated 600,000 international students come to the UK to learn English every year, on a wide variety of courses. The most recent estimate of the economic contribution of international students to the UK is £12.5 billion per year.
· Major international figures that have studied in the UK include former US president Bill Clinton, former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, sculptor Anish Kapoor, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, fashion designer Rifat Ozbek, authors Jung Chang and Vikram Seth, and Malaysian-born shoe designer Jimmy Choo.
· The International Student Awards are open to international students studying full-time at UK universities, colleges, English language schools and boarding schools, on courses lasting six months or more.
· Entrants are grouped into regions - North West, Yorkshire, North East, West Midlands, East Midlands, East of England, South West, London, South East, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
· Each of the 12 regional finalists will be invited to an unforgettable trip to London for a two-day celebration that will include a night’s accommodation in the capital city and a place at the prestigious awards’ presentation dinner on Wednesday 22 April.
The British Council
· Celebrating 75 years in 2009, the British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations.
· We work in over 100 countries worldwide to build engagement and trust for the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people.
· We work in the arts, education, science, sport and governance and last year we reached over 128 million people.
· We are a non-political organisation which operates at arm’s length from government.
· Our total turnover in 2007/8 was £565 million, of which our grant-in-aid from the British government was £197 million.
