The winners of the Nicholl Scholarship for the 2018-19 school year have been announced.

Matthew Wedlich, Natalie Peckett, and Rachel Daly are all studying medicine in Britain.

The $25,000-a-year scholarship will be awarded each year until the students finish their courses.

Ms Peckett, 18, a student at Edinburgh University in Scotland, said: “I knew if I was able to get a scholarship, it would lessen the financial burden that university can be and I wouldn't have to take out, and eventually pay back, a student loan.”

She added the scholarship application process was “time consuming and hard work”.

Ms Peckett said: “I was interviewed over video conference which was a bit intimidating at first, but was actually a fun and valuable experience. I was very excited and glad to know all the hard work wasn't in vain.”

She added: “I hope that once qualified, I will return to Bermuda to help provide medical care to the community that I grew up in.”

Ms Daly, 22, is entering her fifth year at the University of Birmingham.

She was awarded the Bank of Bermuda Foundation's Sir Henry Tucker Scholarship in 2014 for her first four years of university and applied for the Nicholl Scholarship to fund her final two years.

Ms Daly was working at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital when she found out she won the award.

She said: “When I graduate from Birmingham in 2020, I will qualify as a doctor and start working in the National Health Service in the UK.

“I hope to specialise as an endocrinologist and eventually return to Bermuda, after I have gained experience over in the UK and have become a consultant in the field.”

Mr Wedlich, 23, is scheduled to start the first of four years at the University of Oxford, after he completed his first degree at University College in London.

He said: “Having already completed a degree, the prospect of a further four years of tuition and living expenses was daunting. The Nicholl Scholarship will help in a huge way towards funding my degree and allow me to focus on my studies.”

The awards are named after Lieutenant Albert Nicholl, who came to Bermuda from Britain during the First World War as chief examination officer for the Royal Naval Reserve.

Mr Nicholl took an interest in education in Bermuda, especially at Dellwood School in Pembroke, and established the Nicholl Institute, a trades school for boys.

He also set up scholarships at three fee-paying schools and donated a new maternity wing to the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

Mr Nicholl later willed the bulk of his estate to the scholarship fund set up in his name.