A student with a learning difficulty has received the Best Learner Award at the House of Lords last month.
Kelly McKensie, 21, from Orchard Hill College in Wallington, earned the award for overcoming her disadvantage and communicating effectively using gestures, body language, facial expressions and symbols.
The Best Learner Awards is an annual event organised by the Committee of South London Principals (COSLP) - one of the strongest groups of its kind in the country.
The award was presented by Lord Graham Tope who, incidentally, is also a councillor on Sutton Council.
Caroline Allen, OBE, principal of the college, said: "She joined the College as a very shy student, looking to her lecturer and teaching aides for support.
"But she has now developed her confidence and presents herself as a very independent person."
Miss McKensie is currently on a work placement with a company in central London, where she carries out general mail duties.
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