Manchester Met students receive dissertation award! 

Two of our final year graduates from the Class of 2025 were awarded the David Illingworth Prize, which recognises excellence among students of accounting and related subjects at Manchester Metropolitan University, the University of Manchester’s Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS) and the University of Salford. 

The David Illingworth Prize was named in memory of the former ICAEW Manchester and ICAEW national president, and previous Master of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (WCCAEW), who passed away in 2022. 

The recipients from Manchester Metropolitan University were Rehan Ahmed and Laiba Waheed. 

The scholarship is made in recognition of excellent dissertations that engage meaningfully with topics that will have a major impact on the future of the chartered accountancy profession. 

The 2025 David Illingworth Prize winners were announced in July at an event that took place at AMBS. This was attended by directors of MSCA Legacy Limited, Rod Sellers OBE, Richard Dyson and Anna Hardy-Watmough (who is a Reader in the Finance and Economics department), as well as Jonathan Grosvenor, Master of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Joanne Bambrick, the outgoing module leader for the Research Project unit was also in attendance, after helping select the recipients. 

It was really great to be able to showcase the excellent work completed by our students and recognise this in a formal manner. The scheme will continue in 2025/26 for eligible students on the L6 Research Project on the Accounting and Finance/ Banking and Finance programmes, and applications for this will be welcomed by Anna Hardy-Watmough in early 2026.