Engineering university celebrates first graduation

The first cohort of students has graduated from a university that was purpose-built to solve a shortage of engineers in the UK.

The New Model in Technology and Engineering (NMITE) in Hereford opened in 2021 and adopts a "hands-on" learning technique, rather than traditional lectures and exams, to help prepare graduates for the workplace.

The inaugural ceremony took place at 14:00 BST in the city's cathedral, where almost 400 people gathered to watch 25 students receive their degree certificates.

Mahmoud Awad, 24, from Sierra Leone, graduated with an MA in Integrated Engineering and said his degree "meant the world" to him.

"At one point in my life I was hopeless that I would ever become an engineer, and all of a sudden here I am.

"By the end of your time at NMITE, you will have all the knowledge you need to solve a real engineering problem," Mr Awad added.

The 24-year-old said he had secured a job at the construction company Balfour Beatty.

He added that his graduation ceremony was a day he would "cherish forever".

A spokesperson for the university said the day marked a "major landmark" in the UK's higher education, as NMITE was one of a number of new institutions that linked together "academic knowledge, practical skills and professional learning".

James Newby, president and CEO of the university, added the day was also important not only for the staff and students but for all of Herefordshire.

"NMITE was created to serve and support this region, not to 'fix' what is lacking, but to build on what is already great.

"We are here because Herefordshire deserves world-class higher education and because we believe the future of engineering should be shaped in places like this", Mr Newby said.

The university's different learning style had proven to be a success, with applications up 77% from the previous year, the spokesperson added.

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