First Minister Carwyn Jones helped celebrate Tata Steel's class of 2014 at an event hosted by the firm in Wales.

He hailed the commitment of employees and the support given by Tata Steel, which owns Llanwern steelworks in Newport, when he addressed nearly 200 academic and professional achievers.

Ranging from BTEC to doctorates and chartered institute memberships, some 42 different qualifications were achieved by Tata Steel’s 'class of 2014', focusing on the higher-end of skills development in engineering, manufacturing, technical development, procurement and supply chain and business excellence.

The First Minister said: “It is the dedication of companies like Tata Steel to skills development, which is building a knowledge economy, competitive, visionary and expert.

“The company is teamed-up with a strong higher education sector. Working together, industry, academia and government are doing everything possible to build a strong future.”

A spokesman for Tata Steel said: “The gathering of academic and professional achievers represents a sample of employees who are currently undergoing training and personal development. We have a pipeline of more than 200 apprentices undergoing essential training, and a further 320 employees studying at a range of Higher Education programmes. We have our own in-house training for supervisors and managers at all levels and many more employees are currently undergoing training.”