University Centre Peterborough students raise their mortarboards to first class set of results

More than 200 University Centre Peterborough students gathered at the city’s historic cathedral to celebrate their graduation after years of hard work.

A procession of students was led from the New Theatre, in Broadway, by the Mayor and Mayoress of Peterborough Cllr Nick Sandford and Cllr Bella Saltmarsh into the cathedral where degrees were conferred.

The Dean of Peterborough Cathedral addressed all graduates and guests and highlighted UCP’s notable achievements in the past year.

The graduates were awarded degrees in a variety of subjects from business management, therapeutic counselling to criminology and sport and forensics.

Many have already secured full-time employment in their chosen careers, whilst others are pursuing work experience in a relevant field, or are continuing their studies with a Masters degree.

Addressing graduates from all faculties, Professor Sir Les Ebdon, Chair of the Higher Education Council, told the congregation that the graduation was ‘a celebration of the fruits of your hard work’.

The highlight of the ceremony then came as the Higher Education Managers proudly presented the graduates, who walked across the platform to collect their scrolls.

Closing the ceremony, Liz Knight, Academic Director of UCP, told guests and graduates that UCP was committed to nurturing excellence in Higher Education.

Afterwards, Amaan Joondan, who graduated with a BSc (Hons) Business Management with Marketing, said: “It was the perfect way to celebrate our successes and how much we’ve all grown since we started our degrees.”

The ceremony comes after new figures revealed that UCP has achieved 80 per cent of its students graduating with a 2:1 or higher degree classification.