John Sandbach memorial prize winner

OLIVER WOODHAMS ANNOUNCED AS JOHN SANDBACH PRIZEWINNER

CIPFA student Oliver Woodhams of Staffordshire County Council has been named as the winner of the John Sandbach Memorial Prize.

The prize is awarded annually by the CIPFA Education and Training Centre (CETC) to the student studying at one of its four centres with the highest overall marks at Diploma level. Oliver is the third student to win the John Sandbach Award. Gary Gilbert, Head of CETC, explains the history of the prize: “John Sandbach was chairman of the CETC Governing Body before his sudden death in 2003. He is remembered fondly by CIPFA members as somebody who played a major role in setting high standards for financial management in the public services. This prize commemorates John and all that he gave to the public sector, CIPFA and CETC. Oliver is an extremely worthy winner and I’d like to wish him every success with his final exams.”

Oliver began studying with CETC Midlands in Birmingham during 2003. He will be presented with the award in May 2006 at the CETC prizewinners’ lunch which will be attended by Governors, staff, and other CETC prizewinners. On winning the award Oliver says: “I am extremely pleased to have won this prize and very grateful for the support I received, both from the staff at CETC Midlands and from Staffordshire County Council.”

The news comes at a good time for CETC whose students enjoyed great success in the December 2005 CIPFA PAQ exams with significantly higher than national average pass rates. They can also claim that 7 of the 9 recent CIPFA exam prizes, which reward high marks at the Final Test of Professional Competence level, were won by students studying with CETC.