A BA (Hons) Business Studies student from Bournemouth University is through to the final of the prestigious Undergraduate of the Year awards.

Tom Heyes is down to the last ten for the Target Jobs Undergraduate of the Year in Commercial Excellence award, and will find out if he has won at an awards ceremony hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald.

Tom, who is currently on a placement year as part of his course, said: “It has been a lot of work to get to this stage, but I’m really happy to have got through to the finals – it’s one of those things you don’t expect to happen.

“I get to go to dinner with Trevor McDonald – so I’m happy even if I don’t win.

“The Business School have been really good and really supportive and have been backing me all the way.”

The Target Jobs Undergraduate of the Year Award in Commercial Excellence is sponsored by Nestlé, and looks for students with a winning mix of personal skills, career motivation and an excellent academic record.

The winner will receive a Raleigh expedition to Borneo in 2013 as part of an expedition team and the chance to undertake a 12 week internship with Nestlé in a commercial area of their choice.

“It would be a great experience to get that extra three months with a totally different company – especially Nestlé, which is one of the biggest companies in the world,” said Tom, 21, who is from Bournemouth and lives in Winton while studying.

“The seven weeks in Borneo after graduating would be amazing as well.”

Tom is currently undertaking a 12 month placement with Fujitsu, working as a Lean Practitioner – helping to manage change activities in different parts of the business.

He believes that the experience helped him during the gruelling application process – for which he had to write a critical report of the economic climate, do online tests and a group assessment day and interviews with Nestlé.

“I don’t think I would have got this far if I hadn’t had a placement,” said Tom, who lives in Reading while on placement.

“I have learnt an amazing amount. I have changed a lot in this year and grown up a lot.

“I think it helps when you can provide real world experiences. A lot of the other candidates were really strong academically and really intelligent but I think I was more outgoing in the group situation.

“I think that’s probably where I picked up points.”

The winners of the awards will be announced at a ceremony in Canary Wharf on 19 April.