College of West Anglia pupils graduate from RAF course

A group of students from West Norfolk are among the first to graduate from a new air and defence careers college programme.

The Air and Defence College (A&DC) programme was set up two years ago in a partnership between defence industry bodies, the College of West Anglia (CWA) and two other colleges in Lincolnshire.

Around 70 students, including eight from CWA, have now graduated from the programme, following a ceremony at RAF Cranwell.

The course is designed to create secure career paths in the RAF, aerospace and defence industries for young people.

CWA student, Marcus Hodges won awards for Best Male and was voted Student’s Student, while Callum Cox won the Pursuit of Excellence award for his commitment and dedication shown throughout the year.

As part of this accolade, Callum will now get the opportunity to fly in a one of the training aircraft used by the RAF.

CWA students also achieved the Gold Level Industrial Cadet’s Award, as well as six Duke of Edinburgh Bronze awards handed out on the night.

Jo Evans, learning and skills lead for the course, said:”Since the course began over two years ago, the programme has gone from strength to strength.

“The strong partnership between the Royal Air Force and the colleges has given our students the skills necessary to begin their next step; working towards an exciting career.”