STUDENTS at one of Worcestershire’s newest colleges are preparing to graduate.

Fifty-one students from Regents Theological College in Malvern are getting ready for the college’s first graduation since it moved to its new home in West Malvern.

The students will wear gowns to process in front of locals and visitors through the historic Malvern Priory grounds on Saturday afternoon.

A short time later they will be presented with their degrees in the priory by the college chancellor, the Rev Lyndon Bowring.

The students have all spent three years or more studying Applied Theology, which is accredited through the Universities of Wales and Bangor. Many graduates will go on to enter the Christian ministry full-time as a church pastor or youth leader and some will follow other careers around the world.

The college moved in to the former Malvern St James premises in De Walden Road from Nantwich earlier this year – 80 years after it was founded.

It is the training centre for the Elim Pentecostal Church.

College principal the Rev Nigel Tween said: “Graduation is a happy occasion when we celebrate all the hard work and achievement of our students. Holding it in the historic priory is also very significant. It was originally built for 30 monks and it’s amazing to think that 1,000 years on, young men and women are still dedicating their lives in service to God and the community.”

For more information on the college, visit regents theologicalcollege.org.uk