Three college students are anxiously waiting to hear if they have scooped the first prize in a national photography competition set up to capture the start of the college year and organised by the national FE Week newspaper.

The three students – Gloria Munson, 16, from Totnes, Katherine Hardiman, 16, from Crediton and Catherine Turner, 16, from Winkleigh are already celebrating being the cream of the crop having been shortlisted in the last 11 from the overall 300 entries that swamped the FE week offices earlier in the month.

“We wanted to give learners the opportunity to use their digital cameras, phone cameras or SLR to provide a snapshot of college life from their perspective” said Shane Mann, Director of Operations for LSECT and FE Week. “It's a creative way for learners not only to express their feelings about the courses they've enrolled in, but how their college will help them meet their goals for the future.”

Encouraging all the colleges and the public to cast their vote Shane went on to say “We had over 300 entrants and the lucky winner will receive a Nikon Camera worth £700 AND we will pay them to be our official FE Week photographer at our charity auction.”

Nigel Watts, head of the art and design faculty at the college said “We're delighted that three of our students have made it through to the competitive shortlist since I know that the standard was very high. The competition was open to all in the college but the three students who have been shortlisted have all come from our A level photography course. We're always keen to give students real life experiences of the pressures of competitive photoshoots and the photos they've produced are very personal to them.”

Gloria Munson whose picture of her friend Nathaniel yawning on Totnes station early in the morning has been shortlisted said “It's exciting to be at college and my first response to the photo competition of 'the start of the college year' was how tiring it can be to get into a routine. This has been a great opportunity and I really wanted my entry to be an honest picture.”

Katherine Hardiman's photo was also linked to sleep with a montage of college coursework and social life “I spend many hours mediating my social life and workload,” she said “I feel quite privileged to be part of the college and whilst it is tiring, it's tiring in a good way! College makes me want to be busy and I've enjoyed getting the balance between social life and work right. I really liked photography at GCSE and I thought this competition was a great opportunity to do the 2 things I like about photography – expressing my feelings and sharing things.”

Catherine Turner preferred the black and white style and entered her photo to represent the importance of the role her friends play in her time and experience at college “It shows a beautiful happy moment with a real sense of the freedom that college gives you, ” said Catherine “I love how college has made me happy. I'm in my element and I get instant gratification taking photos.

As she congratulated the students, Amber Gould, photography lecturer, said “I'm so pleased we have three students in the shortlist. The A Level course encourages students to work creatively with photo media and I think this is demonstrated in the variety of our entries. I hope the success of our shortlisted students will encourage other keen photographers within the college to enter national competitions such as this.”

To see the full list of photos from across the country and to vote for your favourite by November 5th go to www.surveymonkey.com/s/feweekandme