Alumni

Olly first appeared in the BBC television drama Summerhill in 2008 followed by many and varied television and film roles including Le Week-end released in 2013,  the 2014 film God Help the Girl  and the 2015 film Funny Bunny.

The band Years & Years formed in 2010 with their single King making it to number one in March 2015. Their debut album, Communion, also made number one in the UK Album Chart in July 2015.

Olly has become a great ambassador for the LGBT community and recently added his backing to the Stonewall anti-bullying campaign.

Photo credit

Prior to her current position, Diana worked as Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) – a leading independent think tank on UK Higher Education policy. She has authored a wide range of HEPI reports on topics including the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), demand for higher education to 2030, widening access to higher education and university free speech policies.

Diana has also been a keen influencer of research policy at the European level, having been a founding member of the EURAXESS Voice of the Researchers (VoR) network, dedicated to delivering policy change for researchers. As part of the VoR, Diana successfully campaigned for the introduction of the pan-European RESAVER pension scheme and devised a toolkit adopted by the European Commission to enhance the open, transparent and merit-based recruitment of researchers across Europe.

Diana attended Hereford Sixth Form College (from Aylestone School) between 1999 and 2001 and took A-Levels in French, German, English Language and Literature and General Studies. She holds a BA (Hons) in German from Durham University, and an MPhil in Contemporary European Studies and a PhD in German, both from the University of Cambridge. Diana has also held post-doctoral appointments at the University of British Columbia and the Technical University of Berlin, as well as back at the University of Cambridge.

“Samuel Karl Bohn’s skills as a classical composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist have given him the opportunity to produce a diverse body of work. It is Bohn’s orchestral arrangement of the Foxes song Youth that is featured on the 2013 Debenhams Christmas advertising campaign.

His music can also be heard across the very promising and very funny Inbetweeners spin-off series Drifters. He has worked with the composer Matthew Herbert on the Winter Olympics Sochi 2014 opening ceremony.

In film, Bohn composed the score for the horror feature Don’t Let Him In (2011). This followed a period of assisting the composer Christian Henson, with whom he worked on many projects including Bunch of Amateurs, Consuming Passions, Malice in Wonderland and Triangle.

His television work is highly regarded including Parents for Objective Productions (starring Sally Phillips and Tom Conti), Theatreland for Sky and additional music on Poirot and Super-Sized Earth amongst his numerous credits.”

The Hereford Times wrote an article on Sam’s success which can be viewed here.

…plausible spread of future changes that are consistent with the current knowledge of climate processes.

Francis said of the College, “Having moved from Canada to the UK only two weeks before starting at Hereford Sixth Form, I found it a particularly welcoming and inclusive environment. I was encouraged to progress not only in my academic studies but also through opportunities in music and theatre. It was from my experiences at HSFC that I developed an interest in technical theatre which led, in a roundabout way, to my current career designing concert touring shows for rock and pop artists.”

Following a stint at Portsmouth Naval Base working for BAE Systems as a ‘Year in Industry’ student, Francis joined a four year MEng in Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College, London, honing his skills with extra theatre, club and event lighting work.

He also came back to Hereford to work on the set of the College’s legendary production of Romeo & Juliet in 2013 held at Hereford Cathedral. At this event he worked with previous Knight of the Illumination Award winner, Jamie Thompson (son of our retired Drama Tutor, Colin Thompson).

Francis is now a freelance lighting designer working as part of MIRRAD – a visual arts and design collective (also with Jamie Thompson) and is particularly experienced in working with new and young artists and has worked for Slaves, Public Service Broadcasting, Kano, Stormzy, Lethal Bizzle, UB40, Banks and Snarky Puppy to mention just a few.

On Sunday, 18^th September 2016, the winners of the ninth edition of the Knight of Illumination Awards were announced during a glittering ceremony at the Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith, London. The Awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of lighting designers across theatre, television and concerts.

Ex student, Francis Clegg, was amongst the 500 lighting professionals and he went on to win the HSL Lighting Design Award for Concert Touring with the band Public Service Broadcasting.

At the end of the first year, Luke was approached by the Saatchi Gallery who wanted to purchase his work. The project ‘Inside out’ featured him swallowing some 35mm film, developing it and blowing it up. Overnight, the work was causing a great debate on the Internet, with one Brazilian news website the story had six million views.

You can see more of his ‘Inside out’ project here.

This was a huge moment for Luke as he realised people were interested in his work. He built up a following via his website where he closely monitored Google analytics to track his audience type.

After working in London with several brands and magazines like The Gourmand on commissioned projects, Luke decided to move back to rural Herefordshire in March 2015 to open up his own Studio.

To date, Luke has won many awards any young creative would dream of including the prestigious D&AD Yellow Pencil. His work has also been exhibited all over the world including areas such as; China, USA, Germany, Paris, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand to name but a few.

You can view his work at: http://luk-e.com

Photo credit: Lulu Ash

Image and article info taken from: http://www.itsnicethat.com/features/luke-evans

Other opportunities soon came Tom’s way including photographing the England Rounders squad including one international fixture and covering the Malvern Junior Open which featured some of the best junior tennis players in the country.

During the summer of 2009 and going in a slightly different direction, Tom achieved major success when he was awarded the title of Royal Horticultural Society Young Photographer of the Year.

That summer also presented a time of reflection for Tom as he worked on improving his photography. It was during this period he came up with a unique project and style – Silhouette Sport, an innovative approach to the exercise of sports photography. This was adopted by University Birmingham Sport.

Within the first three weeks at the University of Birmingham reading History (War Studies), Tom became the Chief Photographer of the weekly student newspaper and was given a photography internship by University Birmingham Sport.

Over the course of that first term, Tom’s portfolio expanded as he perfectly captured the raw action and energy that university sport presented. His images were used for merchandise and advertising and are a permanent feature in the Munrow Sports Centre at the University.

Part of Tom’s intern programme was to develop his photography as an official photographer at professional events so he signed up with agencies AMA Sports Photo Agency and Action Plus Sports and was fortunate to be mentored by Bob Martin at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and Matthew Aston at Premier League football matches.

After graduating, Tom joined the ranks of press photographers at the South West News Service (SWNS) – one of the largest press agencies in the country allowing him to work on major stories every day for national newspapers.

Armed with a huge amount of experience and success under his belt, Tom took a leap into the world of freelance photography.

In 2016, Tom took the position of Manchester City FC Assistant Club Photographer.

In 2018, Tom is still enjoying his role at Manchester City in their title winning year and he and Club Photographer, Victoria Haydn, will holding an exhibition at the National Football Museum from 11th-14th May 2018.

For more information about Tom and his work you can read his blog or view his website.

Former student, Joss Garman, 23, environmental activist, member of Greenpeace and co-founder of the Plane Stupid group gave an informative talk to students at Hereford Sixth Form College about climate change. He focused mainly on the importance of trying to cut out pollution from aviation.

Joss has taken part in many protests to give his opinion on climate change. He believes all the protests he takes part in to be non-violent as he never brings any harm to humans or animals. He has been arrested many times.

Joss began by outlining the importance of reducing carbon emissions as it has a devastating effect on climate change. He mentioned the insufficiency of coal-fired power stations and stressed that they are the most environmentally damaging of all the fuels available to man.

Moving on to talk about the Government’s plans to build new coal-fired power stations to replace older ones, Joss explained that just one of these new stations will produce 8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, this is more than thirty developing countries combined. By building these power stations it would make Britain a high producer of emissions for years to come as each power station would typically operate for 30-50 years. The estimated carbon emissions of these power stations have worried many people. Even the world’s most respected climate scientist, Dr Jim Hansen, Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, has been concerned enough to write to the Prime Minister, warning him that he has the power to influence ‘the future of the planet’.

Joss also informed us of the importance of our personal actions on climate change. He told us about how the idea of action on climate change is in an unusual – and counter-productive “loop”: the Government won’t do anything because they believe they are not getting a sufficiently strong message from the public, and the public aren’t telling the Government of their concerns and their wish for Government action because they assume that if climate is such a major and undeniable problem then the Government would already be doing something about it!

Joss also talked about his action group, Plane Stupid, and their recent actions at Stansted airport. Although aviation is notably a small overall part of climate change, it is also incredibly important as flights are growing in popularity, so by stopping or reducing plane flights now this should stop it from becoming a bigger problem in the future. It was also mentioned how planes have become too easy in today’s society, because it is easier to catch a plane than a train or bus – and this is partly down to the poor UK public transport system. It is becoming especially noticeable as plane journeys are becoming more local instead of mainly being used for long journeys to distant countries. The fact that one flight to the USA will cause as much global warming as an average UK driver does in one year is astounding. This is because air travel produces so much carbon monoxide.

In the second part of his talk, Joss answered questioned put to him by the group and argued his points with great knowledge, before ending the talk and taking some individual questions at the end. Joss certainly gave everyone who had attended a lot to think about.

Photo credit ~ www.theecologist.org:

www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/Joss_Garman/271319/milibands_leadership_on_climate_is_tested.html

Ellie’s version of Elton John’s Your Song (with some footage from her own video shot in Herefordshire)made her a household name after it featured on the John Lewis Chistmas advert that year.

Ellie was invited to sing at the Royal Wedding in April 2011.

She has made many TV appearances during her career including performing and being interviewed on Alan Carr’s Chatty Man to appearing as a model in an advert for Marks & Spencer.

Ellie’s a regular headliner at festivals and performed an outstanding set at Glastonbury in 2014 and among many other accolades, she received the award for Best British Female at the 2014 BRIT Awards.

Ellie’ s career continues to grow in Europe and America and I’m sure there’s plenty more to come from our Herefordshire starlet.

Photo Credit: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/ellie-goulding/images/35699330/title/ellie-goulding-wallpaper

Beth spent a year with the European Space Agency (ESA) as a Research MD, Concordia Station, Antartica. During this mission at Spaceflight Analogue Concordia ‘White Mars’, she was responsible for co-ordinating and implementing seven research protocols, selected by the ESA, to investigate the effects of this extreme environment on the physiology and psychology of the crew. Beth was lead of the medical rescue team and worked alongside the base doctor in case of emergency.

You can read a fascinating insight into the team’s work and experiences via their blog http://blogs.esa.int/concordia/ or follow Beth on Twitter @Bethahealey

Beth, a Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award holder, has a very sporty background – she was a district cross country runner and played county hockey but she now has a penchant for something more extreme having many and varied qualifications for mountaineering, exploration and water sports under her belt.

This has dovetailed neatly into Beth’s career and some of her volunteer work, including:

• Tangent Expeditions Snowmobile and Logistics Staff (North East Greenland)
• Assistant Doctor at the North Pole Marathon
• Medical Student Volunteer at Scorsbysond Hospital (North East Greenland)
• Support Team Member at the Extreme World Races (Lake Baikal, Siberia)
• Assistant Leader on the British Schools Exploring Society (Svalbard)

Beth’s employment and training history includes:

• Hospital Doctor – NW Thames Foundation Programme, London
• Chelsea & Westminster NHS Trust (FY2): Trauma and Orthopaedics, General Practice, Accident and Emergency
• Ealing Hospital NHS Trust (FY1): Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Infectious Diseases, Surgery

Photo credit: ESA/IPEV/PNRA–B. Healy from http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Concordia/Scientific_spring_in_isolated_Antarctica 

“I have a lot to thank Hereford Sixth Form College for. I had a fantastic two years and felt very supported during my A Levels and whilst applying for university.” – Dr Beth Healey

Specialising in Politics, he spent six months in New York as the US correspondent for Radio 1’s Newsbeat before becoming Senior Reporter for the prize-winning Newsbeat team.

He features regularly on BBC Radio 4 and when he last visited the College he was just about to relocate to Scotland to cover the Scottish Referendum.

Photo credit: Ed Kowal, Marketing Assistant, Hereford Sixth Form College

Since then, he has worked, for a year, on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN and then went to Massachusetts Institute of Technology to get a PhD in High Energy Physics. 

Ben’s Doctoral research focussed on the Physics of Neutrinos, both in particle accelerator experiments at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) and using the IceCube Neutrino Telescope at the South Pole. 

Now he is a Professor of Physics at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Ben recently received the Mitsuyoshi Tanaka Dissertation Award in Experimental Particle Physics for his thesis research. Click here to read more about Ben’s work and the award:

http://www.uta.edu/news/releases/2017/04/Ben%20Jones%20IceCube%20Award%20APS.php

where he became a committee member and regular speaker. Tom was also active in The Student Voice newspaper, where his contributions ranged from articles on sport, the arts and politics.

Tom achieved three A Levels in Government & Politics, Philosophy & Ethics and English Language (AAB) and left to read Politics at Reading University. On completion, he graduated with first class honours.

For 11 years, he was the Daily Telegraph’s athletics correspondent, with a portfolio that included sports politics and doping as well as a number of other Olympic sports.

As a freelance writer, he has worked for The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Mail on Sunday, The Daily Express and the Press Association. He has also appeared on BBC Radio Five Live and  TalkSport.

Previously, Tom was press officer for the London Marathon for five years.

Tom and his wife, Sybil Ruscoe, also compiled the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games: The Official Commemorative Book.

Tom and Sybil now run a successful media company. Part of their business includes the provision of media training for some of Great Britain’s top sports people.

Jack is now coming to the end of Year Two of a PhD at the University of Oxford looking into ‘mesophotic’ coral reefs.

He has also just submitted a second scientific paper for consideration with the Royal Society but more excitingly a UN report on these reefs was released recently. Jack was joint lead author of the chapter considering threats to the reefs and management options and has received attention from the Huffington Post, IFL Science and the University of Oxford’s Science Blog.

Data collection for the projects has seen Jack diving to 100m under the sea which only about 10 Biologists globally can do without a submarine.

You can find out more about Jack’s research at the University of Oxford here and via a Facebook page on fieldwork.

Photo credit: Operation Wallacea http://opwall.com/dcim100gopro-2/

James, known as Jim Solar, was bass guitarist in the cult punk/new wave band Spizz Energi.

The band had a handful of Indie hits on Rough Trade Records and then A&M Records. Their most well known hit being Where’s Captain Kirk?

Spizz Energi toured all over Europe and North America.

Later James joined Sony Music as an A&R man working with various top acts of the day.

Wikipedia says, “Artists and Repertoire (A&R) is the division at a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists and songwriters. Also acting as a liaison between artists and the record label or publishing company.”

Following this, James got into music video and commercials production at various companies in London, most notably Saatchi & Saatchi.

In 2005, James set up his own talent agency www.screen-talent.com in London with an affiliate office in Los Angeles.

He represents people who work behind the camera, such as designers, cinematographers and editors including a number of BAFTA and Oscar winners and nominees.

He has since played Albert Nugent in the hit ITV show Downton Abbey and most recently could be seen touring the country with a production of J B Priestley’s Dangerous Corner.

Photo credit: http://imgkid.com/matt-milne-downton-abbey.shtml

five skills that when put together make him outstanding. He has an almost instinctive eye for composition, understands the importance of lighting, is great at make-up and hair, is clearly expert at using Photoshop and has the ability to put his models at ease.”

Rowan went about setting up his own very successful fashion photography business and continued with his studies at the London College of Fashion.

This led to a year’s internship with the internationally renowned photographer Bruce Weber in New York, where Rowan has since based himself.

He has recently shot a Vogue Cover.

You can see some of Rowan’s work here.

Olympic Way was the name chosen and on Wednesday, 19th December, Gold Medallist Paralympian, Josie Pearson MBE was on hand to officially unveil the road’s new title.

Josie, a former student of Hereford Sixth Form College, also met with students from the College’s Elite Athlete programme. Topping off a busy afternoon, she was also guest speaker at the College’s Certificate Presentation later that day at the Shire Hall.

The London 2012 legacy is certainly alive and well at the College.

Photo credit: Getty Images

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/paralympic-sport/9528029/Paralympics-2012-Josie-Pearson-a-class-apart-as-she-claims-Great-Britains-10th-athletics-gold-with-F51-discus-victory.html

 indie electronica band, Vaults (who split in May 2017).

Vaults were signed to Virgin EMI in 2014 and went on to feature on the Fifty Shades of Grey movie soundtrack with their song One Last Night.

They were a renowned live band and made many festival appearances including Latitude, Bestival and Festival No. 6.

Vaults were catapulted into the limelight at the end of 2016, when their cover of Randy Crawford’s song, One Day I’ll Fly Away, featured on that year’s John Lewis advert Buster the Boxer.

Blythe’s current musical project is Mesadorm. Click here to follow Mesadorm on Facebook for their latest releases and gig dates.

Town Hall in January 2006.

As well as presenting prizes to our successful students, Mary – who hails originally from Weobley – took time to call in at College to see the changes which have taken place since her time as a student here.  Mary said, “I am delighted to be here to recognise the success of students and the excellent work of Staff.  It was a pleasure to visit the College again. The buildings have grown and the facilities are excellent but there is still the same community atmosphere and sense of enjoyment which I remember so well.” 

During her visit Mary spoke to first year student, Rebecca Fletcher. Rebecca took the opportunity to interview Mary and to learn about Mary’s studies and her subsequent career:

“After taking A levels in Communication Studies, English, General Studies and Psychology at Hereford Sixth Form College, I completed a one year secretarial course at Herefordshire College of Technology. It was a means to an end – the typing and shorthand have been invaluable, but I was never cut out to be an organiser of files, nor an office dweller! From there I went to Birmingham to study Communication/Media Studies. It was one of the first degree courses of its kind, with a very practical bias. Part of the degree involved a placement at the end of the first and second year. BBC Hereford and Worcester had just opened up, so I applied, was taken on over the summer and then offered a job – that simple!

My favourite sport is tennis, my break in sports reporting/presenting came when I was at Wimbledon, presenting on the local radio service, Radio Wimbledon. I’ve been covering the tournament for the past 11 years, which is a frightening thought! It always gives me a buzz when I walk through the gates past the Fred Perry Statue. Let’s hope there will be an Andy Murray Statue alongside it one day. My favourite sportsman to interview has to be Roger Federer. He is charming, modest and of course a phenomenal player.

I’ve been fortunate to cover the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Cricket World Cup, Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and even World Bowls! One of the highlights must be the victory parade for the England rugby team – not an inch of floor space in Trafalgar Square. Another highlight was the decision day for the 2012 Olympics. I was in Trafalgar Square doing interviews with the athletes and ambassadors, it was a nerve-wracking moment, but with the announcement “The 2012 Olympics are awarded to the City of …London”  the noise was incredible. I had to grab Dame Kelly Holmes for an interview straight away and she was in floods of tears!

I’m currently presenting Heaven and Earth on BBC 1 on Sunday morning. It’s quite a departure from sport, but the interview/discussion format is interesting and something I would like to do more of.  I can’t imagine not being involved in sports journalism, although it would be nice to have weekends off once in a while!

The best advice I can give to anyone interested in a career in the media, is be prepared to start at the bottom and not to give up. So many people want to be a ‘celebrity’ but they are here today and gone tomorrow. Get some experience at your local paper/radio station and a good journalism qualification. If you are persistent it will pay off. “

Photo credit:

http://newstevesnewscaps.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/mary-rhodes-bbc-midlands-today.html

When were you here at Hereford Sixth Form College, and what did you study?

I was at Sixth Form College between 1982 -84. I studied English, History and Psychology.

Were there any particular tutors that inspired you?

Sue James was a great English teacher. She was the only tutor who taught in a seminar structure. Sue encouraged debate and discussion. Her teaching style meant I wasn’t completely unprepared when I got to university.

Can you remember what your ambitions and hopes were then, and when you were thinking ahead to choosing a university?

I wanted to be an actor but I think I always knew I didn’t  want to restrict myself to the narrow focus of drama school so I applied to universities. Also I did one audition for drama school, Bristol Old Vic, and the experience was so traumatising I decided not to repeat it.

Which University or College did you attend in the end, and what did you study there?

I went to Manchester University and studied Drama.

What do you recall as the highlights of your university days?

Sadly, not many. I didn’t really enjoy university, having worried that drama school would be too narrow, I found the course at university so academic and unpractical that I struggled to fully engage. Instead I did a lot of work with a community theatre group that had nothing to do with university and we took shows toEdinburghand performed all overManchester, doing devised pieces and new writing in youth clubs, community centres and theatres which was great. With hindsight I’m still pleased I went to University, it’s given me a breadth of reading and a way of thinking about text that I don’t think I would have acquired otherwise.

From university where did you go – and how did this lead to your present role?

I moved to London straight after graduating and worked for the RSC backstage for a while. I still wanted to be an actor but couldn’t afford to do any more training. A friend told me that if you did a PGCE (a year’s teacher training) at Goldsmiths you didn’t have to do much teaching and they gave you money to set up a theatre company. Incredibly this turned out to be true. Four of us on the course started our own company and devised a play to tour to schools. We then went on to produce new writing in fringe theatres inLondon. One of these shows ended up winning several awards and attracting a lot of attention. From my role in this play I got my first agent, my first TV job and was cast in a show at the National Theatre.

What is your present role?

I’m an actor and writer. I also direct a youth theatre. I sometimes work as an actor for the corporate world, role playing to help businesses with recruitment and training.

What does your job involve?

As an actor I work in TV, theatre and radio and that can mean going anywhere in the country and sometimes abroad for the work. Now that I’m writing more I get to stay at home instead of having to find digs in other people’s back bedrooms so it’s much nicer and comfier than being an actor. It’s also quite a lot harder work but ultimately more satisfying.

What are the best and worst parts of your job?

The best part is creating a piece of work that you’re really proud of, that didn’t exist before. Working with very talented people who are at the top of their game and learning from them. Currently, I’m working for the BBC, so I’m in the extremely privileged position of having a voice to create characters and write jokes for the large and discerning Radio 4 audience.  

The worst parts of both acting and writing are the rejection and financial insecurity.

How has the work changed since you started?

There’s less of it. It’s hard to make a living as an actor. Especially a female one. It has become even more difficult as funding for the arts is cut and drama budgets on TV and radio have been reduced.

What are the pitfalls in your line of work?

It’s very easy as an actor and writer to think that success will breed success for ever. It doesn’t. The busiest people put an awful lot of work into getting the next job, it’s not just luck. Keeping up with contacts, networking, contacting directors you’d like to work with, that’s all very important and I wish I’d realised it earlier on in my career.

What has been your best work experience to date?

Although I’ve been quite lucky as an actor and been in lots of shows that I’ve enjoyed doing, my best work experiences have come out of my work as a writer.

The creation and subsequent commissioning of the BBC Radio 4 comedy series that I co–write with Christopher Douglas, Beauty of Britain, has been and continues to be a great experience. We are currently writing the third series of six half hours to be broadcast in August 2012. Apart from the satisfaction of the writing itself, we get to have an input on the casting, directing and editing of the series too. I also play one of the regular characters. There are no other medium where you are allowed, and indeed encouraged to have that level of control over your work.

Have you received any particular accolades or awards?

My first play, Diamond Hard, won the Almeida Theatre’s new writing competition in 2006.

If one of our students felt “I’d like to follow that route and do that job” what would you recommend to them?

If you want to be an actor perform in as much as you possibly can. Say yes to everything and work out how you’re going to fit it all in later. Also go and see as much theatre as you can afford to. You can only be good yourself if you know what good looks like. It’s much easier to access archive performances now via the web and the National Theatre also screens some shows in cinemas so there’s no excuse not to take advantge of all that. Create your own work. If you’re a drama student you’ve probably devised work as part of your course, that’s writing and it doubles your chances of having a lasting career if you can do it. Again it’s much easier to record your work on film now and upload it for potential employers to see. Many TV and comedy shows are commissioned on the strength of a ‘taster tape’ that the writers or performers have put together themselves.

Where are you living now and what projects are you working on?

I live in London. I’m currently busy writing my radio series, Beauty of Britain, so I have work until June. Beauty of Britain has been optioned for TV development by Hat Trick Productions so we are trying to think of ways to make the show work for a TV audience instead of a radio one. I’m pitching ideas for a new radio comedy series and I’m also trying to get a commission for a radio play.

One piece of advice for our students.

Pursue a subject at university that you truly enjoy. Don’t go to university just because it’s what everyone else is doing. I’ve always created my own work and I’ve ended up having a longer and more varied career than a lot of my contemporaries. A career in the arts is not an easy choice. The pay is mainly low or non-existent and you will be rejected more often that not. But you know that and it won’t put you off. It didn’t me and I’m happy that it didn’t, because I love what I do.

Photo credit: Ruth Figg, Hereford Sixth Form College

Mephistopheles in Dr Faustus at the Royal National Theatre, Ariel in The Tempest at the RNT’s Cottesloe, Alice in Daisy Pulls it Off at the Lyric Theatre and Cassancra in Beauty and the Beast at the Library Theatre, Manchester.

Emma has been no stranger to our television screens either, with appearances in Coronation Street, Fanny Hill, The Royal, Holby City, Doctors, The Tudors, Endeavour, Midsomer Murders and Whistleblower to name but a few.

Emma’s Wikipedia Page.

Greg joined the Year Out Drama course, based in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2008 and then trained for three years at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).

Since then, Greg’s acting career has flourished. He was part of the original cast of Mischief Theatre’s The Play That Goes Wrong, an award winning West End comedy. An excerpt from the play featured on the Royal Variety Performance in 2015 which also featured cameos from Kylie Minogue, Josh Groban and Jack Whitehall.

Mischief Theatre’s second play Peter Pan Goes Wrong, featured on BBC1 on New Year’s Eve 2016. Greg played Jonathan (Peter Pan).

Greg is now playing in Mischief Theatre’s third, award nominated, farce, The Comedy About a Bank Robbery, at the Criterion Theatre.

Greg was also associate director on the 2018 US tour of The Play That Goes Wrong.

• finishing 6th at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships (1985)
• recording the fourth fastest 5000m run (1984)
• a bronze medallist at the Commonwealth Games (1986)
• recording the second fastest 5000m run (1987)
• running the 10,000m race in the World Championships finishing 8th with a personal best of 31:55.30 (1987)
• UK Cross Country Champion (1988)
• winning a silver medal at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships and led the British women to a team silver (1988)
• attending the Olympics in Seoul – finishing 29th (1988)

Angela still holds many Welsh track records and along with her twin sister, Susan, were amongst Britain’s leading middle-distance track, road and cross-country runners during the late Eighties and early Nineties.

Angela still runs for recreation today. She currently teaches Geography in York, is married to Professor Andy Smith, one of the country’s leading sport scientists and has two children.

transferring to local government. She became Chief Executive of Torfaen County Borough Council in 2004, combining some of her responsibilities with work for the Welsh Assembly.

In the 2011 New Years Honours list Alison was awarded the CBE for services to local government in Wales.

the first female in Britain to…

• break 70 minutes for the half marathon
• finishing 6th at the Commonwealth Games in 10,000m (1986)
• finishing 4th in the London Marathon (1988)
• representing Great Britain in the marathon in the Seoul Olympics finishing 12th (1988)
• representing Wales and Great Britain in the World Cross Country Championships on four occasions.

Whilst still competing, Susan worked as a part-time PE teacher. She is married to ex-international runner, Geoff Wightman and has three children and currently teaches at Fettes College, Edinburgh.