TWO students from mid Wales who travel to Hereford Sixth Form College to study have received offers from Oxbridge colleges.

Nia Bolland, a former student of Builth Wells High School, and Lara Hill, who previously studied through the InterHigh online school based in Crickhowell, are among 17 students at the sixth form college who have received offers to study at Oxford and Cambridge universities this year.

Lara will be reading History at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and said: “It feels quite surreal to have been offered a place at Oxford University. When I found out I was shaking for about half an hour!

“I’m very excited and it has given me more motivation to do well in my exams. I’ve gone from thinking university probably wasn’t for me a couple of years ago to having an offer from one of the best universities and in a lovely city. Having studied for my GCSEs at home and given up on school, studying at Hereford Sixth Form College has given me much more confidence and made me feel more able to go further in my studies.

“I know for certain if I hadn’t gone to College in Hereford, I wouldn’t even have applied to Oxford, let alone have received an offer to study there.”

Nia will be reading Human Social Science at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, and was “happy, relieved and excited” to know what the future means for her. Nia said: “The College is generally very supportive and efficient and there has been lots of advice on applying to competitive courses.”