A MUM and daughter from Tullibody are enjoying a double celebration after graduating together from the University of Stirling.

Vicki Lawlor, 43, and daughter Hannah, 21, completed respective degrees in management and primary teaching.

With scrolls now collected, the Lawlors are hosting a double celebration to mark their achievement, after spending lockdown studying together over the dining room table.

Vicki, a PA and office manager, has been working at the university for 20 years and started her part-time degree in 2015.

She said: "It is a strange sensation to be graduating.

"While I'm pleased with my own achievement, seeing Hannah graduate makes me feel so incredibly proud of her. It will be an emotional day for lots of reasons."

It is by pure coincidence that the mother and daughter duo are graduating together.

Vicki added: "I studied part-time while working, and took a year out at one point, so it has taken me a little longer than Hannah to complete my degree.

"It hasn't been an easy journey, but it has been amazing to have Hannah by my side and to share similar experiences of meeting deadlines and completing assignments.

"We made a good team and cheered each other on, especially during lockdown and towards the end, when we were both frantically finishing our dissertations and didn't move from the dining room table."

Daughter Hannah, a former Lornshill Academy pupil, is set to take up her first teaching role at Menstrie PS in August.

She said her friends could not believe her mum was also set to graduate alongside her.

Hannah added: "They were really surprised when I told them we would be graduating together; I don't think they realised she was studying here too."

The duo have organised a family garden party to mark the occasion and are looking forward to the celebrations, even if they are disappointed that the traditional graduation ceremonies are unable to go ahead due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Hannah added: "It is amazing for my grandparents to be able to see not only their granddaughter reach this milestone, but their daughter too, and on the same day."

Mum Vicki is receiving a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Management while Hannah is being awarded a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Professional Education (Primary) with specialism in literacy.

They are two of more than 2,300 students who are set to graduate from the university this summer, including from partnership institutions in Vietnam, Singapore, UAE and Oman.

There will be no in-person graduations at the University of Stirling in 2021 due to coronavirus.