File Photo/ UWI Top Matriculant 2025 Nelisha Mirage

The University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus will formally welcome its newest students during its 2026 Matriculation and Welcome Ceremony on Thursday.

The event will begin at 4 p.m. at the campus gymnasium in Five Islands. Students have been instructed to wear formal black pants or skirts with white tops.

The ceremony marks the official admission of new students into The UWI academic community and provides an opportunity for them to make the traditional matriculation pledge. It follows their first weeks of classes, orientation activities and adjustment to university life.

“Your first weeks brought new classes, new faces and probably a few ‘wait … which room?’ moments. Now it’s time to mark the official beginning of your journey,” the campus said in announcing the event.

The ceremony comes as the Five Islands Campus continues to expand its student population and academic offerings. In 2025, the institution reportedly admitted 443 students from a record 750 applicants, pushing total enrolment beyond 1,000 students.

The campus opened in 2019 as The UWI’s fifth landed campus and its first new physical campus in more than five decades. Its inaugural matriculation ceremony formally welcomed 147 students in September of that year.

Since then, the campus has expanded its programmes in areas including health and behavioural sciences, business and management, science and technology, and humanities and education.

Thursday’s ceremony will formally recognise the latest group of students beginning their studies at the Antigua-based campus and reinforce their responsibilities as members of the wider UWI community.

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: UWI Five Islands to Welcome New Students at Matriculation Ceremony Thursday.