Last year was another outstanding year for West Lothian College. More students than ever before achieved their qualifications, including just under 1,400 at higher education level.

Most of our 2024 graduates are now working or continuing their education at university or at college.

Today’s graduates have achieved qualifications that sit at the same level as first, second, third or fourth year of a university degree. That’s amazing!

Hundreds of our HNC and HND graduates are now at university and many went straight into second or third year of their degree.

Amongst our graduates this year, many gained HNCs and HNDs while balancing full-time study with part-time work and caring responsibilities.

Others achieved Professional or Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs) on the job, or by attending evening classes while working full-time. That takes some doing!

Pass rates improved on the previous year – 85% of HND students achieved their qualification, as did 93% of SVQ students. These have been the highest results of colleges in Scotland for a couple of years now.

So, sitting in front of me today are the some of the best performing students in Scotland – and that’s a fact!

Thank you for adding to our reputation as a high-performing college.

That’s why we are the top choice of West Lothian school leavers who choose to study higher education qualifications – higher than any university.

That’s why we have more people in work completing SVQs at a level equivalent to a degree than any other college in Scotland.

Excellent learning experiences lead to successful students and your lecturers created fantastic opportunities that I’m sure contributed to your success. For example,

All Childhood Practice, Business, Accounts and Healthcare students had work placements where they put what they’d learned into practice.HND Childhood Practice students took part in a research project with a German university, with some visiting Germany to experience their early years education system first hand.HNC Digital Creative Media students created short films in partnership with the BBC, eight of which are now on their online Social Connects website.HND Engineering students visited CERN in Switzerland, the world’s largest particle physics laboratory.And HNC Professional Cookery students worked for a week in the restaurants at Royal Ascot where they cooked meals for a thousand people a day!

Congratulations to you all!

Everyone at the college is really proud of you and excited to see what you do next.

I’ve no doubt that some people helped you get here today – lecturers, assessors, other college staff – friends, partners, families – classmates. Please join me in showing your appreciation for everyone who was there for you.

But never forget, that while others may have helped, you were the main reason for your success. It was you who did the hard work to gain your qualification. It was you who kept going through good times and bad.

So please give yourselves a huge round of applause!

In past graduation speeches I’ve quoted famous inspirational people. This year, I’ve been reflecting on who inspired me most in my life. And, although I would never have acknowledged it as a young person, I’ve come to realise that my biggest inspiration was my mum.

She had five kids by the time she was 26 and had to drag them around Scotland every couple of years to live wherever my dad could find work – a family of seven living in a one-bedroom house in the highlands, a caravan in Lanark, and a one-room tenement in Glasgow. I was ten years old when my parents finally got a council house and settled down in the town where they spent the rest of their lives.

As children, we thought this was normal. As an adult, I was able to understand how tough it must have been for my mum and the sacrifices she made to keep us together, fed and clothed. My dad worked hard, but it was my mum that got us through lean times when there was no money for the basics.

In the last fifteen years of her life she worked for the council as a night cleaner and was hugely proud of how clean she kept the public toilets. In those days, groups of teenagers who had nowhere to go and nothing to do used to hang out at the toilets. Many saw them as trouble, and sometimes they were, but ‘wee Betty’ as they called her built relationships with them, listened to them and shared her chips with those who were hungry. There was never any trouble at the toilets when wee Betty was on duty!

Why am I sharing this?

Because inspiration often comes from those around us – even when it’s not obvious!

My mum left school at 15 with no qualifications. But, without either of us knowing it, her grit, determination, deep sense of fairness and empathy seeped into my bones and shaped the person, the partner, the parent, the student, the employee and the manager that I became.

Think about who inspired you and, if you ever get the chance, tell them.

Your success is inspirational. You inspire me and everyone in the college. I’m sure you inspire your friends, families and people you’ve learned and worked with.

It’s 33 years since I graduated and walked across a stage like this. Since then, there have been twists and turns in my career, even the occasional dead-end. But they all led to me gaining new skills and insights into what was important to me, which led me to the next step in my career. Eventually, they led to this job – the best job I’ve ever had, working with the best people and supporting the best students!

And, it all started when I went to college at the age of 25.

My advice to our class of 2024 is:

—Be curious, be tolerant and don’t be afraid of difference or change

—Take time to keep yourself mentally well to cope with any obstacles you face as you go through life

—Be kind, be fair and treat people the way you want to be treated yourself.

Looking out at this audience of graduates gives me great confidence and hope for the future.

I know you are going to make a difference to people’s lives, to the communities you live in and the organisations you work in.

If you live and lead with empathy in everything you do, the small changes you make in your life, at work, at college or university will matter and will make a difference.

Please spread some West Lothian College magic wherever you go and in whatever you do!

To the children in the room I want to say that the person you’re here to support is amazing.

And you are amazing too.

I hope you will be future graduates of this college and use your education to help make the world a better place!