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A record number of unqualified young people have been accepted by Dundee University after completing a rigorous ten-week access programme.

At a special "graduation" ceremony, 57 of the 72 students completing the course were offered places, with four of them deferring entry until next year.

The students, who did not have higher education entrance qualifications, attended more than 14,000 hours of courses, backed by graduates acting as personal tutors, and the university's student advisory service, counselling service and careers service.

John Blicharski, director of the access school, said: "I have no doubt that many will now go on to obtain a degree, something that ten weeks ago was for them a very distant dream."