A STUDENT from Newport has won a place and a financial aid package to study at a top university in the United States.

Charlie Cromwell-Pinder, who has just completed her A-levels at St Julian’s School, will take up her place at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, this autumn.

Last year, Miss Cromwell-Pinder was one of 150 students selected for the Sutton Trust US Programme, run in partnership with the US-UK Fulbright Commission.

The programme included a week-long trip to the United States to visit a variety of universities and meet admissions officers from colleges across the US.

They competed with more than 1,000 applicants to win a place on the programme and spent a week staying in the dorms at Yale University, Princeton University or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Miss Cromwell-Pinder said: “I was just in shock when I read my acceptance email.

“I remember I had just come home from work late at night and I immediately ran upstairs to wake my mum and make her read the e-mail to check I wasn’t dreaming.

“We stayed up until three o’clock in the morning talking about how exciting it is.

“None of this would have been possible without the programme, they gave me unparalleled experiences and the tools I needed to build the path to my success.”

Miss Cromwell-Pinder is one of 47 students who have been accepted under the early application deadline to US universities, with more students applying by the January deadline.

Results are scheduled to be available later this spring.

Sir Peter Lampl, founder and chairman of the Sutton Trust and chairman of the Education Endowment Foundation said: “America’s leading universities are bastions of progressive values and outstanding education.

“I’m delighted that 47 state school students have won places to study in the States.

“I hope more young people will look to their success and realise that a university education in the United States is well within their grasp.”