St Mary's College is celebrating a vintage year for Duke of Edinburgh's Award success.

20 pupils have achieved the coveted Gold Award - the highest annual figure in the school¹s history. The St Mary's haul also represents more than half of the borough-wide total of 35 Gold Awards achieved this year via Sefton Youth Services.

The Duke of Edinburgh's scheme is widely regarded as the world's leading achievement programme for young people.

It takes two years of hard work to reach Gold Award level, with candidates needing to provide evidence of achievement in five areas - volunteering, a specific skill, physical activity, an expedition and a residential course.

The St Mary's pupils chose a remarkable range of residential projects this year, from taking sick and disabled people to Lourdes in France to working on a survey of turtle activity in Cuba!

Teacher Mark Ireland, who runs the Duke of Edinburgh's scheme at St Mary's,

said:  "Everyone at the school is delighted that it¹s been a record year for Gold Awards, an achievement which reflects the hard work and commitment of all the young people who took part. Achievement in the Duke of Edinburgh's scheme is highly regarded by universities and employers so it helps to make pupils stand out from the crowd when they're applying for courses or jobs.  In addition, thanks to the volunteering and expedition elements of the programme, many other people have benefited from the pupils' efforts as well."

The gold standard - the St Mary's pupils are pictured with their Duke of Edinburgh's scheme certificates.

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