Sir Paul McCartney to present special award to Hollywood star Woody Harrelson

Sir Paul McCartney will return to his former Liverpool school later to give a special award to Hollywood A-list actor Woody Harrelson.

The screen star, writer and director will become a companion of Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (Lipa), awarded for outstanding achievement and practical contribution to student learning.

He will be among eight other luminaries of the arts and entertainment world who will also receive the honorary awards at the annual degree ceremony attended by the former Beatle.

Around 220 students from 16 different countries, including Norway, Brazil, South Korea, India, Germany, Ukraine and the United States, will receive awards at the graduation ceremony.

It is being held at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall for those who have completed either degree or foundation certificate programmes at Lipa.

The Institute is located in Sir Paul's old school, the Liverpool Institute for Boys, which underwent a multimillion-pound renovation to turn it into Lipa, a state-of-the-art performing arts higher education institution.

It was founded by Sir Paul and Mark Featherstone-Witty in 1995.