Hundreds of students picked up their certificates as the University College Isle of Man (UCM) held its annual graduates’ ceremony.

Rachel Miles, former media student at UCM and part of the BAFTA winning team of creatives at BBC Sport, was presented as the 2023 honorary fellow.

Rachel won her British Academy of Film and Television Arts award for her work on the broadcaster’s Tokyo Olympics title sequence.

She was awarded the fellowship and delivered an inspiring speech to the graduates about her journey.

Gail Corrin, UCM’s higher education manager, said: ‘It was a real pleasure to announce Rachel as a UCM honorary fellow at this year’s Graduates’ Ceremony.

‘It’s a wonderful event where we celebrate the successes of our degree and postgraduate students as they complete their qualifications, and it was fantastic to be able to celebrate the success of a former student by bestowing this honour.

‘Rachel is among good company, as we have some exceptional fellows including Professor Ken Mills who was the fellow last year and Dr Peter Litman who was the fellow in 2021.’

Rachel added: ‘My two years at college were the making of me so I’m genuinely, genuinely grateful to be recognised in this way.’

As part of the celebrations, UCM awarded the Higher Education Student of the Year to Emily Todd, an award in memory of former UCM student, Liam Arrowsmith, and supported by his family; and the UCM Research Award to Michael Synnott which has been supported by Utmost International.