Graduation Day 2025 #BFCGRAD – 99% of apprentices gained a First or 2:1 honours!

More than 900 graduates were honoured at B&FC’s Graduation Day 2025 event at the Winter Gardens on Friday afternoon.

Our class of 2025 celebrated with proud families, friends and colleagues across two uplifting ceremonies in the stunning Empress Ballroom.

Students received awards spanning Higher National Certificates and Diplomas, Foundation Degrees, full Honours Degrees and Higher Apprenticeships – with the vast majority achieving top academic classifications.

At a time of rapid development for B&FC’s Higher Education portfolio – as plans progress for our Multiversity development – this year saw a fantastic 57 per cent of B&FC graduates awarded First Class Honours with 86 per cent attaining a First or 2:1 overall.

The ceremonies featured keynote remarks from Alun Francis, B&FC’s CEO, plus an address from Sarah Kemp, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Engagement) at Lancaster University.

Charlie Thomas, one of two students to deliver an address, was graduating with a BA in Business Management as part of the Chartered Management Degrees Apprenticeship. A near perfect 99 per cent of 2025’s apprentices gained First or 2:1 honours overall.

Charlie thanked B&FC colleagues, plus family and friends, for the unwavering support that powered him and others to this momentous day.

“We became more confident”, he said. “We became problem solvers, leaders and collaborators. We learned to challenge assumptions, defend our ideas and manage not just projects, but people – sometimes including ourselves – and we didn’t do it alone.”

Fellow student speaker Jake Randall, who graduated with a First-Class Honours degree in BSc Digital & Technology Solutions, echoed those sentiments and urged graduates to commit to lifelong learning.

He added: “I really enjoyed the broad nature of our course with the mix of specialised and common modules to give us the more rounded exposure and development that perhaps our corporate roles don’t offer. It’s satisfying to know I will forever have this rubber stamp of the knowledge and skills I have acquired.”