EIGHT young Jamaican professionals were awarded scholarships to study in the United Kingdom for the 2003/4 academic year.

The awardees, who had applied for the annual Chevening Scholarship Awards, were chosen from a field of more than 300 graduates.

Major David Cummings of the Jamaica Defence Force, who is one of the eight awardees, received a special scholarship, funded by the British High Commission.

All eight awardees will travel to the UK for the start of their courses in the next few weeks, and High Commissioner Peter Mathers will on Thursday host a farewell reception in their honour.

The Jamaican Chevening Scholars for 2003/4 are:

*Samuel Blake

MSc in Criminology – Leicester University

*Kirk Brown

MSc Environment & Development – Manchester University

*Yvonne Chin

MA Television Journalism – Nottingham Trent University

*Lorraine Smith

LLM in UK Human Rights & Public Law – Essex University

*Jennifer Walker-Brown

MSc/PGC Forensic Psychology – Glasgow Caledonian University

*Dale Bent

MSc Urban Governance for Development – Birmingham University

Joint Chevening University of Nottingham Developing Solutions scholarship 2003/4

*Tracy Simone Falconer

MSc Molecular Medical Microbiology – Nottingham University

British High Commission – funded 2003/4

*Major David Cummings

MA in Defence – Cranfield University

British Chevening Scholarships are offered in more than 150 countries and enable talented graduates and young professionals to become familiar with the UK and gain skills, which will benefit their countries.