It was mortarboards and gowns galore on 21 February as hundreds of students attended the annual winter graduation ceremonies at the Brighton Dome. Lord Attenborough was on hand once again to confer the awards and humbly accept a shower of kisses from grateful graduands.

Students are invited to come in national dress, but no costume was quite so colourful as Betty Ntshangase's, which included the Swaziland national football team's shirt!

Betty, who undertook an MA in English Literature, came to Britain with no funding behind her and combined study with work in local schools: "I had no lazy time," she recalls. "When I wasn't reading or writing, I was working. I was determined I would find the money and do my best."

Betty also had to leave her family in Swaziland. To her relief, they have now joined her in the UK as she embarks on a PhD in Drama and Development. Her studying seems to have started a trend, as her husband is now about to start an MSc in Britain.

When Soren Holm from Denmark and Viviana Alverde-Fernandez from Mexico arrived to study international law they had never met. When they graduated 18 months later they were married. "We were in the same class when our eyes met over the table," recalls Soren.

When their course finished, Viviana stayed on in Britain while Soren returned home. "Soren surprised me one day by turning up on my doorstep," says Viviana. "He took me for a walk along the beach. Then, in the rain in front of the West Pier, he proposed. I was shocked but I said yes, of course."

The newlyweds enjoyed being back in Brighton for the ceremony: "We both loved the life at Sussex. We had an amazing year and we wouldn't trade it for anything!"

Kathy Darling, who works in a Hastings secondary school, is one of the first students to receive the new Diploma in Professional Education Studies. The course enables those who are currently teaching assistants to extend their skills to support classroom teachers more effectively.
 
How did it feel, however, for Kathy to go back to the classroom herself? "It was very challenging for me because I have kids and a full-time job. Around that I had to fit my essays, learning diary and build up my portfolio of coursework. But the school totally supported me."

Kathy now intends to become a fully qualified teacher herself. "I found the Diploma very useful and will definitely carry on my studies after graduation," she says.

Peter Fearon, from Newry, received a doctorate in chemistry after spending most of his life as a builder. "I'd left school at 16 with very few qualifications and had done various jobs," he explains.

He was the first in his family and even the entire neighbourhood to go to university. "The contrast between a remote Irish hamlet and campus residences was amazing," says Peter.

Not content with being the oldest student at his previous graduation ceremony in July 2001, septuagenarian Ken Goodwin graduated again - this time with a Masters in Early Modern History.

"I really loved it," he enthuses. "There was plenty of work but never a dull moment. I would have heated arguments in class about everything from European law to the fate of witches!"

When Wendy Ellis retired, she decided to take up her interest in development more actively and enrolled for a Certificate in Environment, Society and Politics.

She was initially anxious about her lack of modern study techniques but says she received lots of help. "I look back on the course now and I realise that I learnt quite a lot more than I expected."

Far from resting on her laurels, Wendy's next move is to take up another course - this time in India.

Italian Marco Amodio overcame all the odds to achieve his Masters in Rural Development. For a start, he couldn't speak English when he first arrived in Britain. Then he realised he had chosen the wrong degree. After he had changed course, his mother fell seriously ill. Thankfully his mother recovered and her son graduated with flying colours. "I met so many interesting people - something that I could not experience in Rome," says Marco of his year in Brighton.