MORTARBOARDS were thrown into the air on Friday as Wiltshire College students celebrated their graduation.

About 150 students from across the college’s four campuses graduated from a variety of higher education courses including honours degrees, HNDs, NVQs and postgraduate certificates in education, in a ceremony held at Salisbury Cathedral.

The Salisbury campus is currently working in association with six leading universities, and some of the degrees are affiliated to Bournemouth, Bath and Greenwich universities, with subjects ranging from fashion, photography and fine art, to accounting and business.

A number of the students have been studying management NVQs through distance learning, more than 20 of whom are based with the Royal Navy in Plymouth, Portsmouth or serving on HM ships.

One student who did particularly well was Mat Risebrow. Mr Risebrow, who studied at the Salisbury campus and achieved a first class honours degree, was awarded the Bournemouth University Partner College Prize for his outstanding practical and written work. His first job on completing the BA (Hons) film production and cinematography course was to work on a big budget Hollywood film with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp.

Wiltshire College principal Di Dale said: “Our graduates can feel justifiably proud of their achievements. They have all worked hard to achieve their awards and many have succeeded in maintaining a balance between home commitments, jobs and study.”