The newest crop of students from the Australian Film Television and Radio School’s (AFTRS) Radio Branch graduated last night in a gala ceremony at the School’s North Ryde premises in front of a crowd of 150 guests from all facets of the radio industry.

AFTRS Head of Radio Steve Ahern says this year is the first time the Graduate Diploma flexible delivery course has been offered, giving the radio courses a record number of graduates in 2006:

“We continue to adapt and evolve our courses to ensure they are relevant to industry and that our graduates fit the mould of what is needed to gain employment.

A total of 20 Graduate Diploma Radio students finished: 11 students completed this year’s Graduate Diploma in Commercial Radio Broadcasting and nine students completed the Graduate Diploma in Radio Broadcasting – Flexible Delivery. Twenty one students of the Graduate Certificate in Commercial Radio Programming also formally graduated.

“These outstanding young broadcasters are poised to contribute strongly to the future of radio around the country and we are very proud of our latest graduates and believe their individual talents will take them to great heights in the industry,” says Ahern.

Almost all of the graduating students had already gained employment in the radio industry.

Since its inception in the 1980s, the courses provided by the AFTRS Radio Branch have produced highly skilled graduates who have gone on to achieve high profile careers. Many graduates have gone on to have win Commercial Radio Awards and other radio industry accolades.