Eight students from Truro and Penwith College have been offered conditional places at Oxford and Cambridge this year.

Five of these offers have come from Cambridge and three from Oxford.

The college hopefuls are from both A-level and International Baccalaureate programmes and their chosen subjects range from archaeology and anthropology to philosophy, history, music and economics.

The eight students are Holly Meehan (formerly Cape Cornwall School) heading to study philosophy and French at Oxford, Beth Whitlock (formerly Budehaven School) heading to study archaeology and anthropology at Cambridge, Daniel Rose-Jones (formerly Richard Lander School) heading to study music and archaeology at Cambridge, Chris Brookes (formerly Helston School) heading to study economics and management, Hannah Owen (formerly Bolitho School) heading to study English with education at Cambridge, Mycroft Mead (formerly Budehaven School) heading to study maths at Kings College Cambridge and Alex Hirons (formerly Launceston College) heading to study archaeology and anthropology at Emmanuel College Cambridge.

Miguel Rodriguez-Correa, formerly from Penair School, has been offered a place at Keble College, Oxford reading history and German. Miguel said: “Studying a range of different subjects on the International Baccalaureate has enabled me to discuss subjects that I would not normally choose to. The IB has allowed me to complement my own subject areas with knowledge from other areas and the programme gave me the chance to combine both history and German in an investigation about the Baader-Meinhof group, which in turn became a key point of discussion during my successful interview.”

David Walrond, principal of Truro and Penwith College, said: “Every year we see many students progress to a wide range of the most prestigious and competitive degree courses, but there is always particular excitement when the Oxbridge offers come in. These students deserve the highest praise, and I know that all the staff who work with them here share their delight.”