Hopwood Hall College Graduation Ceremony 2007

Date published: 14/02/2007

Hopwood Hall College recently hosted its 14th annual Higher Education Graduation Ceremony at Rochdale Town Hall.

Over 100 hundred students of the College were officially awarded their higher education and professional qualifications by Dr George Holmes, Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of The University of Bolton. The College and the University have forged strong links, offering certain courses in partnership with one and other, such as the Foundation Degree in Early Years and Childhood Studies. 

Dressed in traditional cap and gown, the graduands filled the foyer along with many proud friends and relatives who came along to see the ceremony. Families came from as far as Bangladesh and Vietnam to see their loved ones be awarded their qualifications.

Some of the graduates completed their qualifications with the support of their employer, as did a group of employees from The Ryalux Group in Rochdale, who each gained a BTEC Professional Certificate in Management Studies. The students were taught in-house at Ryalux attending a half-day lesson per week for 12 months.

As well as having an extensive choice of further education courses, Hopwood Hall College has offered higher education to the local community for the past fourteen years. Over 1,300 local people have now gained HE qualifications, by studying either part-time or full-time in order to develop their careers or as a means to further study.

Other qualifications awarded on the night included BTEC Higher National Certificates and Diplomas in Business and Marketing, BTEC Higher National Diplomas in Electrical amp; Electronic Engineering and AAT Technician Stage NVQ 4 in Accounting.

Principal Derek O’Toole commented: "By running higher education and professional qualifications locally, the college offers people of the borough the chance to embrace the culture of life long learning, "up-skilling’ themselves throughout their working lives to levels that will allow their organisations to adopt new techniques and technologies. For many students choosing HE at Hopwood lowers costs as they study to university-standard whilst living at home. Hopwood Hall also runs successful "Access to HE’ courses for those aspiring to higher education who may not have the necessary entry qualifications."

Margaret Kingsford, Executive Director for Teaching and Learning, who was the Master of Ceremonies on the evening said: "We were as delighted as ever to see all our successful graduates gather at the Town Hall to receive their qualifications. Many of the students have gone on to Universities such as Bolton, Manchester, Huddersfield or Bradford to do a "top up’ year after finishing at Hopwood, where they leave with an honours degree. Some of the students have gone on to study at Masters level after finishing professional qualifications such as the BTEC Advanced Professional Certificate in Management Studies."    

Call the College for more information about higher education on 01706 345 346 or email enquiries@hopwood.ac.uk