Edward will also be working at L’Oréal over the summer, the company who sponsored the award.

Exeter student wins Undergraduate of the Year Award

Edward Ashton Johnson, a second year student studying business economics at the University of Exeter has been awarded the L’Oréal Male Undergraduate of the Year award last week.

Applications were submitted by 3,336 undergraduate students from universities across the country for one of the twelve awards and, of these, 582 made it through the assessment process. The award was given to undergraduates who had accomplished exceptional achievements during their time at university.

On receiving the award, Edward said, “It feels brilliant to have won and it’ll be healthy for the CV. This award is a nice recognition of what I have done while in my first and second year at Exeter but it doesn’t ensue real world change.

“That is the goal. So I see this as a nice stepping stone on to attempting bigger and better things.”

Edward will also be working at L’Oréal over the summer, the company who sponsored the award, he said, “I will try to soak in all of the training they have to offer.

“Otherwise it is just more positive reinforcement that large multinationals are looking for this type of pro-activeness that we don’t see enough of in universities, or even the country. So therefore I’ll just be seizing more opportunities to try to make a greater impact.”

Both the Think Try Do team and the Entrepreneur’s Society at the University of Exeter worked to help Edward achieve the award by providing contacts, advice and networking opportunities.

The awards ceremony, which is hosted by TARGETjobs, is now in its ninth year, with each award being sponsored by a prominent graduate recruiter – names such as Barclays, E.ON, L’Oréal, Rolls-Royce and Teach First.

More information on the winners, including Edward, can be found at www.undergraduateoftheyear.com/winners/2018

Date: 3 May 2018