A bright future for UCP graduates

• For hundreds of other photos from the graduation visit UCP’s Facebook page – facebook.com/ucpeterborough

Students from University Centre Peterborough (UCP) celebrated their achievements at a formal graduation ceremony at Peterborough Cathedral on the evening of Thursday 19th September 2019.

UCP welcomed 850 guests to this prestigious event, including the family and friends of students and academic staff, bringing the whole community together.

This year, University Centre Peterborough has worked closely with Peterborough City Council to ensure that the ceremony benefited local causes and supported small businesses. Eight different street food traders from Peterborough City Market provided a diverse range of cuisines at the gowning pre-ceremony in the Town Hall. The market, which is managed by Peterborough City Council has a mouth-watering selection of Greek, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Nepalese, Nigerian and vegan offerings. This food was representative of the diverse cultures of students who have achieved their degrees at UCP.

The ceremony commenced with a procession from the Town Hall and was led by both the Mayor of Peterborough Cllr Gul Nawaz, and Deputy Mayor Cllr Diane Lamb. To benefit local causes, University Centre Peterborough has made a substantial donation to the Mayor’s charities for 2019/20, which are Little Miracles, Carers Trust Peterborough and Friends of Peterborough Hospitals.

Guest speakers at the graduation ceremony highlighted the knowledge and skillsets the new graduates have developed, and their potential to actively contribute to Peterborough’s thriving economy. Many of the students have already secured full-time work in their chosen careers and will remain and work in the local area, whilst others are continuing to postgraduate study at universities including Warwick and Oxford.

University Centre Peterborough’s reputation as a higher education institution continues to grow with local and national employers, as their degrees are aligned with business needs and lead to real job opportunities. There is now a diverse range of degrees in subject areas including accounting, archaeology, biological sciences, business management, digital arts, engineering, forensic investigation, journalism and marketing.

Professor Sir Les Ebdon, who was Director of Fair Access to Higher Education and is now Chair of the UCP HE Council, said “Our graduation ceremony is a wonderful occasion to congratulate all our award winners on their achievements. Just as it marks another stage in the life journey of our successful graduands, it also marks another stage in the journey of University Centre Peterborough. University education transformed my life and will transform more and more lives in Peterborough as we move forward in our ambitious plans at UCP.”