Last week, 912 students graduated from the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (Mcast) in three graduation ceremonies held at the Hilton Malta.

The Higher National Diploma, which is equivalent to the first two years of a university degree, was awarded to 214 students, while 698 students received national diplomas.

The new courses at this year's graduation were the Mcast diploma for pharmacy technicians, the Mcast diploma for dental surgery assistants and the Mcast-Btec higher national diploma in animal management.

For the current academic year the college received a record number of applicants - 3,532 - for its full-time courses. Mcast today has over 5,500 full-time students, a significant 16 per cent growth over last year's student population. In addition, about 4,000 students follow Mcast part-time evening courses.

For the first time this year, Mcast offered people, aged 23 or older, the opportunity to further their studies and apply for full-time courses as mature students. In fact, over 86 persons applied as mature students.

The college is currently working on enhancing this provision by offering further access to courses as well as academic support, through its evening courses.

Last September, the college started offering vocational degree courses in the Art and Design, Information and Communication Technology, Business and Commerce and Electrical and Electronics Engineering institutes.

Next year, seven groups of degree students will graduate from these four institutes. These degree programmes are designed specifically around the needs and strengths of Mcast students and are planned to be different from those offered by most universities, albeit at the same level.