Biggest-ever Bradford graduation
More than 250 graduands celebrated
Bradford College hosted its largest-ever graduation ceremony on 20 November, with more than 250 graduands from a range of courses – including the BSc (Hons) and FdSc Ophthalmic Dispensing – celebrating their success.
Amongst the invited guests was ABDO head of professional qualifications, Dean Dunning, who said: “It was a great honour to be invited to share the celebrations with the staff and students at Bradford College. As a former student and lecturer at the college, I have extremely fond memories of my time there, and it was terrific to see the college thriving, with so many graduands.”
It was a double celebration for Dean, as his wife Lindsey received her Post Graduate Diploma in Education. Lindsey is programme leader for the Diploma in Contact Lens Practice and a lecturer at Bradford College.
She said: “This year was significant for the college as it was the first graduation ceremony to feature our first cohort of blended learning students, who performed fantastically. We had students fly over from Guernsey to be there and it was wonderful to share in their achievements.”
One of the blended learning students who attended the ceremony was Gemma Sumpton, who explained her journey to becoming a dispensing optician: “I began working in optics four years ago, after helping my husband out at his practice, Sumpton Opticians in Ilkeston, during the Covid lockdowns. At the time, I was a secondary school science teacher, with a specialism in biology, although I had always found anything optical related fascinating. I had also previously completed my Masters degree dissertation on the genetics of retinitis pigmentosa.
Dead Dunning with Gemma Sumpton
“Following my return to teaching after the lockdown, I decided to have a career change and work at the practice full-time. I completed both the optical assistant course and senior optical assistant course by distance learning through ABDO College, and following on from that began a foundation degree in ophthalmic dispensing at Bradford College.
“My experience of studying ophthalmic dispensing at Bradford College has been fantastic. The lecturers are very knowledgeable and extremely supportive, and I would recommend to anyone considering a career in dispensing to apply for one of the ophthalmic courses at Bradford.
“I completed the course by blended leaning, which was great as it enabled me to continue to work full-time whilst studying. The block releases were thoroughly enjoyable and I have made some really good friends along the way. The skills I learnt, both practical and theory, have been invaluable to my development in practice.”
Nick Walker, head of school for ophthalmic dispensing at Bradford College, commented: “Graduation remains one of the most significant milestones of the academic year, providing an opportunity to celebrate the dedication and achievements of our students. This year, we are especially proud to celebrate the graduation of our inaugural cohort from the blended delivery pathway. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to all alumni and wish them continued success in their professional endeavours. The success of our blended programme has meant that we want to continue the success by offering the Diploma in Contact Lenses as a blended learning programme from September 2026.”
Dean was eager to point out to the students that this wasn’t necessarily the end of their celebrations or their journey in the profession.
He added: “Hopefully we will see the students attend the ABDO graduation ceremony in April at Canterbury Cathedral to graduate for the second time to celebrate all over again. We will also see some of them further their careers with further studies in areas such as contact lenses and paediatric dispensing.”