Resilient Sarah Honoured at OCN NI Awards.

South West College (SWC) is delighted to announce that Sarah Gilloway has been Highly Commended in the Health and Wellbeing Learner of the Year category at the prestigious Open College Network Northern Ireland (OCN NI) Learning Endeavour Awards 2025, held at Titanic Belfast.

Sarah, a student on the Level 2 Diploma in Health and Social Care (Traineeship) at the Omagh campus, was one of 16 outstanding nominees in her category and placed second overall, a remarkable achievement that reflects her resilience, determination, and passion for a career in care.

A former pupil of Sacred Heart College, Sarah began her studies at SWC after completing her GCSEs. However, her education was interrupted by a serious heart condition. Demonstrating incredible perseverance, she returned to college this year, where she has excelled in her coursework, supported STEP Up students, and reignited her ambition to work in the care sector.

Sarah’s commendation forms part of a wider celebration of success for South West College, which was shortlisted in three categories at the 2025 Learning Endeavour Awards. Other nominations included Traineeship/Apprenticeship Learner of the Year for Eonan Johnston (Dungannon campus), and Advancing Learning Through Innovation for SWC’s Level 2 Training in IT initiative.