The road to success for CAFRE’s Loughry students

Date published: 29 July 2019

CAFRE’s food students are not only celebrating their recent graduation, but are also looking forward to excellent employment success.

From left: Dawn Spears (ABP Food Group), Sarah-Jane Houston (Kilkeel), and Liam McCarthy (ABP Food Group).

One such graduate, Sarah-Jane Houston, celebrated her achievement at the recent Loughry Campus awards day. Sarah-Jane received a BSc first class honours degree in food technology, and also a prize for achieving the highest grade on the food technology degree. In her second year, Sarah-Jane received a substantial bursary from the ABP Food Group, and successfully completed a 48 week work placement with the company, allowing her to graduate with a diploma in industrial studies.

Sarah-Jane began her time at Loughry studying for the national diploma in food technology after completing her GCSE’s, an attractive alternative to A-levels. This practically-based vocational course gave her the opportunity to study a wide range of subjects and get a flavour of what her future career choices might be.

Sarah-Jane commented: “Completing the national diploma course was the beginning of a great insight into the food industry for me. I developed many practical and transferable skills whilst studying this course. From the very beginning everyone at Loughry made me feel welcome. Loughry really is one big family!”

Having successfully completed the national diploma course, Sarah-Jane decided to continue her studies at CAFRE and enrolled on the BSc (Hons) food technology: “The range of modules that I studied on the honours degree, along with the support from staff and great facilities sets Loughry out from all other universities. I am now back working with ABP Food Group as a technical supervisor. This is a very exciting role as no two days are the same! Studying at Loughry has prepared me to fulfil this challenging role!”

CAFRE offers a range of higher education courses in food technology, Food innovation and nutrition, and food business management. Along with national diploma courses suitable for students with GCSE’s, there is something for everyone.

If you would like to start your journey on the road success like Sarah-Jane, then come along to our careers advice evening on 22 August and see what we have to offer you. You can also check out the CAFRE website or follow us at DiscoverCAFRE on Facebook and Instagram.

Notes to editors: 

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