AYRSHIRE College has been celebrating the achievements of its foreign students, who have been learning to speak English.

English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses have been delivered through community and college classes in South Ayrshire and beyond.

ESOL courses help speakers whose first language is not English to learn the English language through everyday topics of family, daily routine, accommodation, social and cultural awareness.

For the first time, groups from all three local authority areas came together to celebrate their progress at a ceremony held at the College’s Kilmarnock Campus.

Students from Syria, Poland, Russia, Portugal, France, Brazil, Spain, Iraq and Thailand were awarded with a certificate for their efforts.

Greg Cassidy said: “This is the first time Ayrshire College has brought together ESOL learners from East, North, and South Ayrshire at the same time to celebrate their learning. The evening was a terrific success and it was clear that the learners were delighted to celebrate their progress over the year with other learners and their families. We’ll continue to work closely with our partners in each local authority to give ESOL learners as many opportunities as possible to build on their success learning English.”