Bradford College

Award Winning Student - Matthew Denton

Matthew Denton was announced as this year’s winner of Adobe Annual Student Awards during a special ceremony held at Bradford College. This is in stark contrast to Matthew’s humble educational beginnings.  He left school with no GCSE’s and has since gone on to excel at Bradford College – achieving one of the highest ever GCSE results for a student!

20 year old Matthew is currently studying for his A levels at the College’s Sixth Form Centre and has gone from strength to strength in both ability and confidence.  When Matthew first joined the College, confidence was something he lacked; with the help and guidance of Curriculum Team Leader, Veronique Leygue and Lecturer Tim Catterall he has now gone onto become an award winning student. Lecturers Linda McKeon, Annice Gill and the Maths Team at Bradford College have also been instrumental in Matthew’s success.

Impressing judges with his hard work and determination to succeed, Matthew Denton beat off stiff competition to scoop the prestigious Adobe Academia Student Award. To mark Matthew’s great achievements, Rose Kane, I.T Services Manager organised a formal presentation ceremony for Matthew where Andy Welsh, Director of Corporate Services was delighted to present Matthew with his award and a £100 voucher to spend at www.academia.co.uk.

Director, Andy Welsh congratulated Matthew on his great achievement and said: “You have won this award because of all the hard work, dedication and commitment you have shown to your studies. You’ve gone from strength to strength.  I’m sure that if you keep up this level of dedication to your work, you will do really well and be a star at whatever you want to achieve in life.”

Matthew was accompanied by Veronique Leygue, who watched with pride as he accepted his award.  Commenting on his great achievement, Veronique said: “I’m really pleased for Matthew.  He’s a very deserving student and is someone who has travelled such a long way from when he first joined the College. We’re really proud of his achievements!”  Matthew originally joined the College three years ago to enrol on Step Up – a pre GCSE course and has never looked back.

Jackie Robertshaw, I.T Services Applications Development and IT Compliance & Procurement Manager, Sue Richardson were also on hand to watch Matthew collect his award. 

Matthew is no stranger to success and has won a variety of awards whilst studying at the College.  In 2009 Matthew won a Determination and Progress Award at the annual Festival of Achievement and has now been nominated for the second consecutive year.  

Veronique continued: “He’s worked so hard and has grown in confidence.  He’s a popular member of his class and is seen as a bit of a role model and an inspiration because he’s achieved so much against adversity.”

Whist at school Matthew was unfortunately bullied. Matthew explained: “I had problems at school in terms of learning and getting on with people.  The pupils used to put me down and call me stupid as my grades weren’t great. I just kind of gave up.”

Matthew has gone onto excel at Bradford College.  When asked what advice he would give to someone who has had a similar experience, Matthew replied: “It’s easy to think, ‘I’m not good enough’ because of what they’re saying to you.  What you’ve got to try and do is concentrate on what you are good at.  Keep at it and don’t let anyone tell you; you can’t do something.”

Due to the circumstances Matthew found himself in during his school years, it made Matthew even more determined to succeed. Explaining how it felt to go on to become one of the highest achieving students at Bradford College for GCSE results, Matthew said: “It’s weird because I always had the ability in many ways to do things, but I didn’t start showing it until I got here. I thought if I worked hard at my GCSEs I could get A’s and A Stars.”  Matthew completed 5 GCSE’s in one year, gaining a B for Maths and a selection of A’s and A stars for Media, Citizenship, Sociology and Psychology.  Matthew elaborated: “When I opened the envelope I was overcome with emotion as everyone wants to see good marks.”

Matthew reflected: “When I first came to college over two and a half years ago I felt terrible about my life. I felt like it wasn’t going anywhere.  I decided to work extremely hard and its worked out for me, even though there’s still quite a bit of a way to go.”  Matthew added: “I’m glad I’ve come to Bradford College; it’s the best place to learn. There’s something special about this place.” 

Matthew intends to go on to become a Primary School Teacher to help young people succeed.  Matthew explained: “I want to teach children who are dyslexic. I’d like to make it better for them somehow.” Matthew has Asperger, which is a mild form of Autism and has overcome difficulties to become the exceptional student we know today. Matthew smiled and added: “I couldn’t have done it without Veronique and the Course Tutors at Bradford College.  What kept me going was the encouragement I got from them all. They made me realise I could do this.”

Media Studies Lecturer Tim Catterall was Matthew’s Personal Tutor when he first joined the College and is now his Personal Tutor.  Commenting on Matthew’s success Tim said: “Matthew is a shining example that hard work and a determination to succeed really can pay off.  Not only is Matthew academic – he also possesses great creativity ability too.  I’d like to thank him for all his verbal contributions in class. He demonstrates a high level of critical debate and engages well with other people in a really intelligent and personable manner.”

Veronique concluded: “I think Matthew’s got a bright future ahead of him and if he continues to work hard – he could achieve absolutely anything!” 

Click here to see more photographs from Matthew's award winning day.