The university’s Jake Blakeston won the Animation award for Matchstick Zombies, which the jury praised for its direction and humour.

University of Central Lancashire students also scooped the Comedy and Entertainment and Short Feature Awards.

Yousef Thami, Liberty Shaw, Jake River Parker and Heather Davenport were awarded the Comedy and Entertainment prize for Headless: The Ed Shales Story, “an original and clever idea with a great punch line”. Ashley Collier took the Short Feature award for Felix, a story “with heart and soul”.

Robbie Nash from the University of Bolton triumphed in the Factual category with See What I See, Hear What I Hear, which featured a “strong bond and warmth between the film-maker and contributors”.

James Oliver and team from The Manchester College took home the Drama award for Stars on Mars, which boasted an “outstanding set, with some superb graphics work and brilliant post-production”.

The News award was given to Jennifer Henry from Salford University for Life as a Refugee, which the jury praised for its journalism, production and “compelling interviews”.

The ceremony, which was held at the Lowry Theatre, Salford, was hosted by BBC North West Tonight presenter Roger Johnson. It included a question and answer session with Jack P Shepherd from ITV soap Coronation Street and Hollyoaks actor Kieron Richardson.

Earlier in the day, the North West Centre held its annual Student Media Conference, hosted by ITV News senior programme editor Richard Frediani and also at the Lowry Theatre.

The sell-out conference included sessions on “How to get into TV” and “Using digital media in drama”, and featured a range of high-profile industry speakers.

The Hollyoaks digital team from Lime Pictures – creative director Alan Toner, campaign manager Carly Stratton and head of video Graham Gallery – discussed the impact of social media on TV alongside cast member Richard Linnell.

The audience heard how a tailored digital media strategy, which included bespoke content for each digital platform, had enabled Channel 4’s longest-running drama to not only connect with audiences in new ways but also see increased engagement and interaction from viewers.

An informative and entertaining careers session featured ITV Granada Reports journalist Rachel Braund and Laura Gibson from ITV Creative discussing the dos and don’ts of how to get into the TV industry.

Sarah Jones, deputy head of media at Coventry University, led a session on virtual and augmented reality. She demonstrated how the VR experience works and also discussed how it could disrupt traditional TV.

The “soap In a week” team led the final session of the day and featured Coronation Street actor Connor McIntyre; University of Central Lancashire journalism head Andrew Ireland; ITV Studios serial drama chief John Whiston; ITV head of editorial engagement Mark Bickerton; and two students, Ariana Scott and Sam Greene.

This innovative project – in which students and practitioners created an episode of continuing drama in just one week – was designed to inspire students, share skills and find future talent.

The conference was produced in partnership with Salford University and attended by students from across the North West.