University Centre Weston (UCW) held its 2025 graduation ceremony on Saturday the 20th of September. Students, staff, friends and family all came together to celebrate everyone’s hard work and achievements!
After getting into their robes and donning their caps, graduands lined up for a procession through the Italian Gardens to the Winter Gardens Ballroom. Here they heard speeches from our Principal and CEO Pat Jones, as well as our Vice Principal for Higher Education Sadie Skellon and the College Group’s Interim Chair of Governors Tim Jackson.
Each graduate was called up by course and was congratulated and presented with a scroll. Each course cohort received a personalised citation from their course leader, reminiscing on the time spent on the course and the growth of the students.
In Healthcare, our first ever Assistant Practitioner Degree Apprenticeship cohort graduated, with staff member Ellie Read celebrating how each student had grown across the course. Other courses having the first cohort graduate were Early Years Education, SEND & Inclusive Practice and Education, Society & Childhood. This was the same for the BSc Degree in Animal Conservation, Behaviour and Welfare with lecturer Sarah Leaney making a poignant statement about the importance of animal welfare in the UK. Programme lead, Kyle Davies from our Musical Theatre Degree highlighted the joyous production of SpongeBob: The Musical, alongside many other impressive performances. Graphic Design celebrated how each student “has developed their own visual language, their own approach, their own style”, with their confidence growing on every project.
Each ceremony also had an outstanding performance from our Performing Arts students, appropriately singing Hall of Fame, originally by The Script.
Students also had the chance to give back with each ceremony featuring a vote of thanks from one of our brilliant students. The first ceremony featured Ffinian Elliott who highlighted how his lecturers who went above and beyond, and believed in him even when he doubted himself. For the second ceremony Jasmine Clarke-Skillicorn delivered the vote of thanks. Jasmine achieved an impressive 86% in her project and graduated with a First Class Honours in Counselling. Finally, from BA (Hons) Education, Society and Childhood we had Kiera Elston. She paid tribute to friends, family and lecturers who were by her side through the whole course.
Out of all those graduating this year, three stuck out from the crowd. These students stood out for their exceptional contributions to UCW across their time studying with us. This is why we were so pleased to present the Inspirational Journey Award to three exceptional students. First was Ffinian Elliot, who’s contributions to serving as a Student Governor and ensuring that students were properly represented have made a real difference. Second was Jasmine Clarke-Skillicorn who showed a clear commitment to social justice in her work. Alongside this, she supported school groups and even negotiated an ongoing counselling role within a school. Finally, Ryan Abrahams progressed from Weston College and had his design chosen for Knife Angel’s visit to Weston-super-Mare, before going on to work at Walt Disney World in Florida.
After the ceremony, students processed to the Grand Pier. There students enjoyed a drinks reception at Captain Jack’s Bar and even had the opportunity to experience some of the rides available.
Sadie Skellon, Vice Principal of Higher Education reflected on the day saying: “It is always so lovely to see how our students have grown and evolved over time. Our graduates are going on to do so many incredible things in a wide variety of industries and disciplines.
“This year has seen so many great achievements, including charity performances, impressive awards, international trips and fantastic theatre! Stay in touch and we can’t wait to see what you do next!”
