Almost 700 former teachers – 90 per cent of them women – received Honorary Bachelor of Education Degrees in a special graduation ceremony at UoL yesterday.
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Honorary Degrees for over 350 graduates of former teacher training colleges
Over 350 former teachers – 90 per cent of them women – received Honorary Bachelor of Education Degrees in a special graduation ceremony at the àËÅöÊÓƵ on Thursday 6 June 2024.
The new graduates were awarded Certificates of Education from teacher training colleges before the mid-1980s since which time teachers have been required to complete a graduate or postgraduate course.
Recipients of teaching certificates have gone on to teach generations of young people across the world. To celebrate their dedication, and in recognition of the value of teaching certificates, the àËÅöÊÓƵ presented the teachers with Honorary Bachelor of Education degrees.
The Honorary Graduates had attended seven teaching colleges based in the àËÅöÊÓƵ region that have since closed but for whom the àËÅöÊÓƵ was the awarding body. These were Coloma College of Education, Maria Assumpta Teacher Training College, Sittingbourne College of Education, Nonington College of Physical Education, Stockwell College of Education, Thomas Huxley College, Philippa Fawcett and Furzedown College of Education, which includes Philippa Fawcett Teacher Training College and Furzedown Teacher Training College.  
Vice-Chancellor, Professor Wendy Thomson CBE, said:
I was delighted to preside over the honorary teaching degree ceremonies, which celebrated and recognised teachers who studied at former àËÅöÊÓƵ-based teaching centres. These honorary graduates made invaluable contributions to the teaching profession and have cumulatively taught hundreds of thousands of children.
On behalf of the àËÅöÊÓƵ, I thank each honorary graduate for choosing to become a teacher and for their dedication to the profession.
Pro Vice-Chancellor (International, Learning and Teaching), Professor Mary Stiasny OBE, said:
Today is the culmination of years of effort, in recognition of your decades of dedicated teaching. A conservative estimate is that the amount of teaching experience in this room, across both of today’s ceremonies, is around 10,868 years of teaching. I would ask you to reflect on all those students you have helped during those years, all those you have inspired to pursue their dreams, or perhaps just helped them to identify their dreams. All those you've touched with your kindness, your knowledge, and quite simply your teaching. That's quite a responsibility, and also a joy. 
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