A BORDERS pupil is one of only 12 students in the whole of Scotland to have gained a place on the prestigious Sutton Trust internship programme for 2016.

S5 pupil, Kaye Levell from Hawick High School beat off competition from 3,000 students from across the UK to earn one of the coveted places.

Having made it onto a short list of 1,500, she was then selected to join a group of 175 students to attend a weekend introductory residential in London.

The Sutton Trust gives students from across the UK the opportunity to visit and experience life at some of the most highly regarded universities in America such Yale, Harvard and Massachussets Institute of Technology. The aim of the programme is to encourage academically talented students to consider studying at American universities on leaving school.

After a series of interviews and tests, she was finally given the good news that she had secured a ticket to fly to America for one week in August.

 While there she will use the time to decide whether to proceed with her ambition to study in America upon leaving Hawick High, making full use of the support and guidance available from staff at the Sutton Trust and the universities she will have the chance to visit.

 Kaye said: “I am looking forward to heading to the United States this summer. It will be a great opportunity visiting different American universities and I look forward to seeing where this opportunity takes me."

 Councillor Sandy Aitchison, Executive Member for Education at Scottish Borders Council said: “Many, many congratulations to Kaye on her tremendous achievement. To have gained one of these highly prized places is indeed an honour and I commend the commitment and dedication that she has shown to have been selected.

"This has the potential to be a life changing experience and I wish her every success with her time in America and the opportunity she will have to experience US campus life and think about what this might mean for her longer term future.”