FOUR Taunton school students have received offers to study from two of the UK's most prestigious universities.

Kiran Armanasco, Callum Hudson and Henry Raikes recently received offers to study at Oxford, and Alessandro Rossi received an offer to study at Cambridge.

Miss Armanasco, from Taunton, said she felt excited and empowered by the offer to red Theology at Regent's Park College, Oxford.

"I would like to work in social integration, especially integration of multicultural communities. I am so glad that I applied, I didn't think that I could." she said.

Miss Armanasco attended Taunton School from year six to year nine, then went to a classics college in Italy for year ten and 11, and returned to Taunton School in the sixth form.

Henry Raikes, also from the area, has received an offer to read history at Somerville College, Oxford.

He said: “I applied to Oxford but was not taking it for granted, so when I got an offer it was a very surreal experience but I am obviously really pleased. I’m not sure what I want to do in the future, perhaps something in the Foreign Office, but I am keeping my options open."

Callum Hudson is from Cornwall and joined Taunton School in sixth form. He will be reading Biology at Wadham College, Oxford.

He said: "I feel excited and motivated. It has been a long wait and now I think the hard work was all worth it and has paid off. I knew that was the only place that I wanted to go. I'm not sure what I want to do afterwards, I will see at the end of the three years. I’m really glad that I decided to come to Taunton School as there has been so much opportunity to progress."

Alessandro Rossi is from Italy and joined the school for sixth form. He received an offer to study at Queen's College, Cambridge.

He said: "I was happy and excited when I found out. I was feeling confident from my interview but not from the entrance tests. I would like to work in aeronautical engineering in the future, so ideally for Airbus, Boeing or Formula One."

Headmaster, Lee Glaser, said: “We are extremely proud of Henry, Callum, Kiran and Alessandro. They have worked hard and have been rewarded with offers to attend two of the best universities in the world.”