Hard work and commitment has paid off for a group of graduates at the Northern Hub of the National College for Nuclear.

The 17 honours degree students were the fist to start when the hub opened at Lakes College, Lillyhall in 2018.

Eight of the graduates achieved first class honours and nine gained second class.

Paul Fairclough, director of teaching and learning for the National College for Nuclear, said: "These courses have been designed in partnership with local and national employers to ensure the relevance of the degrees and the work readiness of the graduates.

“The courses form part of our new National College for Nuclear portfolio here at the Northern Hub at Lakes College. I am delighted to announce the excellent results of our first group of graduates and these results demonstrate the hard work of the students and the commitment of the lecturing staff.

“I would like to congratulate the graduates on achieving a qualification which is going to allow them to enhance their career opportunities.”

The three programmes the students were studying were electrical engineering, mechanical engineering (both Bachelor of Engineering Honours) and decommissioning and waste management (Bachelor of Science Honours).

Chris Nattress, principle of Lakes College, is delighted with the students success. He said: "I’m thrilled to bits to see our latest cohort of honours degree students with the National College for Nuclear passing with flying colours.

“To have so many students achieve either a first class or upper second degree with honours is amazing and testimony to their talent and hard work, and the support they have received from our staff.

“I’m very proud of everyone and thank them for their fantastic achievements.”

Although the Lakes College and National College for Nuclear buildings have closed due to the coronavirus outbreak, it’s business as usual for the teaching staff and students.

Much work has been going on behind the scenes to ensure that students can continue their course from home supported by digital learning and the staff.

For more information about studying at the NCFN, visit www.lcwc.ac.uk