Nanayaa Hughes-Brittain has won the Black Child Academic Achievement Award at a Prize ceremony hosted at the House of Commons. The event sponsored by UBS saw London’s top Black students awarded prizes by celebrity guests including Boris Johnson and Christine Ohuruogu.

Nanayaa has just started her PhD in Materials having completed her MEng degree last year. She has been a student ambassador, taking parts in open days and school visits. At the end of her third year Nanayaa was selected for a prestigious work experience placement at Inno-Bio-Diagnostics in Malaysia. Having been consistently amongst the best of her group throughout her degree, Nanayaa has graduated as the top student in her year. She has won three achievements awards and has been nominated by the University for both the Royal Charter Award and the RH Craven Award. Actress Naomie Harris presented Nanayaa with her prize (a laptop computer).

The awards were set up by Diane Abbott MP in 2006, who said "Friday was a great night. The students this year are better than ever. These awards show that contrary to popular opinion, Black students are amongst the best in the country. Black students are the lawyers, doctors and leaders of tomorrow.”