A GROUP of Yarm School students are celebrating after beating stiff competition to secure places on university medicine and dentistry courses.

The 15 teenagers have secured places in universities around the country despite applications for medical-related subjects rising by 22.9 per cent last year, according to UCAS.

Henry Slade, 18, of Hutton Rudby, who has been offered a place to study medicine at Liverpool University, said: “I was relieved when I found out I had been offered a place. It was a long process. I attended an interview in November and only just found out I had been accepted.

“The interview process was more like an informal chat as they knew all about my experiences from my personal statement.”

The other successful medical students, who are set to take up their courses in the autumn, are Ajay Asokan, 17, of Ingleby Barwick; Amy Bonavia, 17, of Yarm; John Bunter, 17, of Hartlepool; Jennifer Corner, 18, of Aycliffe; Alex Daniels, 18, of Ingleby Barwick; Burhan Durrani, 19, of Acklam; Victoria Elliott, 19, of Hartlepool; Shona Gardner, 18, of Northallerton; Vatsal Gupta, 18, of Wynyard; Georgina Jarnell-Jones, 18, of Hartburn; Meenakshi Kurup, 18, of Wynyard; and Sisan Silo, 19, of Ingleby Barwick.

Two of the 15 students were accepted on dentistry courses – Seewon Lee, 18, of Wynyard, and Chidinma Anyaegbuna, 18, of Ingleby Barwick.

Chidinma, who was offered a place at Newcastle University, said: “I was delighted when I found out I had been offered a place at Newcastle. I screamed and jumped around.

“I decided I wanted to study to be a dentist in year ten and, since then, I have worked within the community and got involved in extra-curricular activities at the school to help enhance my personal statement.”

Biology teacher Simon Crabtree, who is the head of the careers department at Yarm School, said: “Competition for university places to study medicine is intense.

“Students have to work not only to gain excellent academic results, but also on their extracurricular achievements and work experience, to ensure they stand out from the crowd.

“I am immensely proud that 15 students have gained places this year, especially out of a year group of less than 100 students.”

* Pictured are, from left, back row: Alex Daniels, Meenakshi Kurup, Amy Bonavia, Shona Gardner, John Bunter, Henry Slade, Seewon Lee and Chidinma Anyaegbuna. Front: Georgina Jarnell-Jones, Vatsal Gupta, Ajay Asokan and Jennifer Corner.