A partnership between Clare College, Cambridge and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to raise the aspirations of students in the area has reached the finals of the Lord Mayor of London’s 2005 Dragon Awards.

The Partnership for Schools programme is supported by KPMG and Clifford Chance and works with students from Year 7 onwards to encourage them to aim for the best for themselves in higher education. The programme also works with high-achieving students in Years 12 and 13 (aged 16 to 18) to encourage them to consider Cambridge and Oxford, and support them through the application process.

More than 1,000 students from 13 Tower Hamlets schools/colleges have taken part in the programme since it launched in 2001. Six students from the Borough who have come through the scheme are now studying at Clare and other Colleges in Cambridge.

Dr Polly O’Hanlon, Senior Tutor at Clare College, said: “This is part of our wider strategy to attract outstanding students from every part of the country. We’re delighted that the hard work of our admissions team and of our local partners in the Borough has been recognised in this way.”

The Partnership is one of the projects in the Cambridge Colleges link system, which pairs undergraduate Cambridge Colleges with a particular local education authority (LEA) or group of LEAs.

The Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards recognise the contribution of business to the community. The Clare/Tower Hamlets Partnership for Schools was entered for the Awards by KPMG, which, along with Clifford Chance, is a corporate supporter of the project. The winners will be announced on 19 October.

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