Celebrating our graduates and prize winners

Graduation took place on 20th November at the Cheltenham Racecourse for our History Class of 2025. It was a chance to catch up with our recently graduated students, join them in celebrating their achievements, and awarding prizes.

Graduation is a always a special occasion for students, their families, and staff. Students have spent three years working hard, often juggling work and other responsibilities, to get the degree they wanted. It represents their ability to follow a subject they love, undertake a long-term project, and work independently. While it marks the official end of their time time at University, it also signals the start of the next chapter. We spoke to graduates who have gone on to a number of different postgraduate courses in History, Heritage Management, and International Relations around the country, including the Universities of Birmingham, Middlesex, Loughborough and York. Other graduates have ventured into different careers, or are taking some well earned time out to decide on their next steps. We are sure that we’ll see some good additions to our Alumni Stories in the near future!

Celebrating Our Prize Winners

While all graduating students should be proud of their achievements, we have to give special recognition to two students who managed to go that extra bit further. The first of our two prize winners was Cara Hall, who won the Gloucestershire Historical Association’s Best Dissertation Award. Cara’s dissertation was entitled ‘Mississippi Goddam’ – based on Nina Simone’s famous song of the same name from 1964 – and examined the activism of Black women in voter registration campaigns of the 1960s in the USA. Her project demonstrated Cara’s keen research skills, and ability to examine the hidden role of working-class Black women in the struggle for voting rights in a sensitive and critical way. Cara is now undertaking an MA in History at the University of Birmingham, where we are sure she will continue to excel.

Dr Iain Robertson of the Historical Association, Cara, and University of Gloucestershire’s Chief Operating Officer and Pro Vice-Chancellor Student Experience, Matthew Andrews

Our second prize winner was Charlotte Waldron who received the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Association’s (BGAS) prize for Best Performance. Charlotte worked incredibly hard over the course of her degree to ensure she obtained a First Class honours degree, achieving ever improving grades and consistent results. Charlotte made the most of her time at University, as exemplified by the placement she conducted in her second year at APT Marketing and PR in Cheltenham (read about this here). This experience has led her to now study on the MSc in Sports Business and Leadership at Loughborough University. Charlotte’s journey really demonstrates the varied journeys of History graduates.