“Most people will have several different careers in their lifetime, retraining along the way so they can take on different roles, depending on their life circumstances.
“Remember that our door is always open so please take advantage of any opportunities for learning, whether through formal qualifications or less formal training and development, that may come your way.
“We’ll always be delighted to welcome you back to the College and provide you with the learning opportunities and support needed to help you progress.”
Congratulating the students on their success, Professor Scott said it was important to recognise the support and encouragement students got from their lecturers and support staff.
“At Northern Regional College, we are very fortunate to have staff who work tirelessly to inspire our students and help them achieve their qualifications.”
She also paid tribute to the students’ families and friends.
“Modern life isn’t easy and there can be many distractions and challenges for young people to overcome. Without your support, I don’t believe we’d be celebrating the success of so many of our students today.”
Awards for academic achievement were presented to the highest achieving students on full time courses at each of the College’s six campuses. A number of individual awards were also presented for each campus, including: Inspirational Student of the Year; Student Class Representative of the Year; Student Union Officer of the Year; Further Education Student of the Year and Apprentice of the Year.
Among the Coleraine campus prizewinners were:
Hollie Murray, from Ballymoney, has just completed Year 1 of the Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care. She was the highest achieving student on her course and also received an award for Inspirational Student of the Year; Student Class Representative of the Year, Luke Cassidy, from Garvagh, Level 3 Diploma in IT; FE Student of the Year award was won by Ashley McBride, who finished her Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care with three Distinction* and has been offered a place at Ulster University to study Nursing: Apprentice of the Year award went to Samuel Gilmore from Aghadowey, winner of the Carpentry gold meal at Skillbuild UK in November 2018.
Ballymoney campus prizewinners included Thomas Millar and Anna Brolly who were joint winners of the Inspirational Student of the Year award and described as ‘excellent role models for other students’. Thomas who is from Kilrea has completed a Level 3 Professional Cookery Course while Anna, who is from Portrush has completed a Level 2 Beauty Therapy Diploma. The Ballymoney Student Class Representative award was shared between Holly Devenney, from Coleraine, a Route2Work student and Jadzia Menham, from Ballymoney, who is doing an Access to Opportunity course.
Student Vice President, Eden Campbell from Coleraine, who is studying Creative Media Industries was named Student Union Officer of the Year.