A graduate is aiming to conquer the male dominated construction industry after becoming the first female site manager in her company.

Sarah Harwood is elated after achieving a distinction in Higher National Certificate (HNC) Construction and the Build Environment.

The 51-year-old, from Darwen, has returned to work as a qualified site manager for Rochdale-based the Casey Companies after completing her course.

Sarah, who worked in the construction industry before her studies, needed to complete her HNC course in order to be qualified as a site manager and has become her the first woman to take on the role within her company.

Despite working full-time and completing the qualification whilst at home with her family, Sarah was awarded a Distinction for her work and returns to work as a Qualified Site Manager. 

She said: “I am so proud of myself. I am now a qualified site manager, working at The Casey Group but to achieve this, I needed my HNC qualification.

“My family thought I was crazy and wondered why I was doing this so late as a mature student but I’ve had so much support throughout completing my HNC.

"The construction industry is male dominated and I wanted to show that a woman can work in this industry and also be the first woman at work to do this.

“This has been challenging, especially with having family at home and squeezing this into two years. It really did go very fast.

"I have had lots of support from Blackburn University Centre, I definitely couldn’t have done it without my tutors. The course structure and modules interested me and they were in a good order.

“I would recommend any adult learners to come and study at Blackburn University Centre, the support available is invaluable.”

Sarah was one of more than 600 students who turned out to celebrate their successes at the three Blackburn University Centre graduation ceremonies at King George’s Hall on Tuesday (October 12).