Queen's undergraduate students who completed a year on work placement received a City & Guilds Award from Professor Ken Mortimer, Council Member of City & Guilds.

A leading Queen’s academic has stressed how important it is for students to have a head start in today’s challenging job market.
 
Professor Tony Gallagher, Head of the University’s School of Education, was speaking ahead of Queen’s annual City & Guilds Senior Awards ceremony today (Wednesday 10 March).
 
He said: “Queen’s was one of the first universities in the UK to become involved in the City & Guilds scheme. It is an investment that has always yielded rich returns for our students and is even more important these days as the economic downturn has made the jobs market more competitive.
 
“City & Guilds enables students to acquire skills such as team working, good communication skills, creativity and leadership which, alongside their academic ability, will help them greatly.”
 
This year 194  students will receive Licentiateship Diplomas for skills gained during work placements with a range of employers in the public and private sectors, including IT and engineering companies, financial institutions and charities.
 
In addition, five academic staff from Further and Higher Education colleges in Northern Ireland will receive Membership  Awards under the Learning and Skills Development Agency's ‘Lecturers into Industry’ initiative funded by the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL). Roy Humphries and Carol Thompson from Northern Regional College, Linda Martin and Debbie Morton from South Eastern Regional College, and Douglas Walker from North West Regional College will be presented with membership level awards under the scheme.

The students will receive their awards in Accounting with French; Accounting with Spanish; Agricultural Technology; Chemical Engineering; Civil and Environmental Engineering; Civil Engineering; Economics; Economics & Accounting; Electrical and Electronic Engineering; Finance; Food Quality Safety and Nutrition; Information Technology; Land Use and Environmental Management; Management and Hispanic Studies; Management with German; Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering and Structural Engineering with Architecture.
 
Media inquiries please contact: Donna McCullough, Press Officer 028 9097 5391, 07980 013 362,  d.mccullough@qub.ac.uk