March 18th – This year, for the first time, the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) is holding a virtual graduation ceremony for graduates who achieved their WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines in 2019/20.
The virtual graduation, which takes place today, is hosted by WSET CEO Ian Harris with addresses from last year’s Outstanding Alumni Award winner Ferran Centelles and new Honorary President Paul Symington, together with congratulatory messages from WSET’s Diploma Centres across the world. This year sees a total of 252 new WSET Diploma graduates honored from 26 Diploma Centres across 30 countries worldwide. The 2019/2020 cohort of graduates is considerably smaller than in previous years, as exams could not take place in many countries due to COVID restrictions. Despite the many challenges created by the pandemic, this year’s graduates went the extra mile to complete their studies. After today’s graduation, WSET has over 11,000 alumni globally.
Ian Harris, WSET Chief Executive, said, “Our annual graduation ceremony is a focal point in the WSET calendar. While it is disappointing that it cannot take place in-person at the Guildhall in London this year, we are happy to be able to celebrate our recent graduates’ success virtually – as we are embracing digital platforms in all areas of our business. We are striving to make our organization more inclusive in every way, so in future we have decided to stage a virtual ceremony every year – alongside the in-person event. This will make it accessible to the maximum number of graduates.”
Following the opening speeches, there will be a virtual roll call to recognize every student’s achievement. Due to COVID restrictions, only one prize was awarded this year – The Vintners’ Cup. This award is sponsored by The Worshipful Company of Vintners and awarded to the student who achieves the highest overall mark across all units of the Diploma in each academic year. This year’s winner is Mary Wright. Mary completed her WSET Diploma at WSET School London and works for Liberty Wines as Sogrape Iberia Estates Ambassador. Mary comments, “I am absolutely thrilled to have been awarded the Vintners’ Cup and Scholarship and am really grateful to The Vintners for their very generous study grant. I’m looking forward to a trip to the vineyards of South America, hopefully in the not-too-distant future.”
You can join the graduation ceremony live at the following regional times by clicking on this link: https://wset.graduations.live/visitor
| Region | Local Time | GMT |
| UK (WSET School London) | 6pm GMT | 6pm |
| Americas | 7pm CST | 12am (Fri 19th) |
About the Wine & Spirit Education Trust
- WSET is the largest global provider of qualifications in the field of wines, spirits and sake.
- WSET offers qualifications across four levels, from one-day beginner courses through to an expert level diploma. Courses are available in more than 15 languages and over 70 countries.
- Courses are open both to industry professionals and consumer enthusiasts.
- WSET is recognised as an awarding organisation by Ofqual, the English regulator of qualifications and examinations. All WSET qualifications have a strong reputation worldwide as the industry standard for knowledge.
- In the last academic year (2019/20 nearly 100,000 candidates sat for a WSET qualification and, since it was set up in 1969, WSET has awarded nearly one million individuals a WSET qualification.
- For more information about WSET, please visit www.WSETglobal.com
