JOLIEN VLEESHOUWERS first came to Teesside University on a student exchange from her home country of the Netherlands, and enjoyed the experience so much she returned to study for a psychology degree.

She will graduate today with a first class degree and will be awarded the John Dent Prize for most original final year psychology dissertation.

Ms Vleeshouwers, 23, came to Teesside on a one-year Erasmus student exchange programme from Tilburg University, in the Netherlands.

She said: "I decided to study here after the Erasmus programme as university life is really, really good here.

"I like the way subjects are taught -it is very open with lots of communication and you work in small groups to debate interesting topics.

"There is a lot of individual support for international students, too. The lecturers get to know you by name, which is really nice and the social life isgood, with lots of pubs near the campus. It has been a great experience."

For her prize-winning dissertation, she compared how 40 UK and Asian students coped with stress and their feelings when under pressure.

She said: "It was useful to explore the differences between the students, but on the whole, there weren't many at all. I was excited to get a first and really honoured to win the John Dent prize."

She has returned to Teesside to study for a master's degree in health psychology and aims to later study for a PhD, with the aim of qualifying as a university lecturer. She said: "Who knows, I may end up lecturing here -it's an excellent university with high-quality courses. My parents, Alwie and Hanny, are flying over for my graduation and we are all looking forward to a typical British graduation, wearing the gown and mortar board."