The PR Academy is celebrating the achievements of its top students following an awards ceremony last night, where Ken Livingstone was a guest speaker.

The academy, a major course provider for the CIPR, taught over 500 students last year and presented five students, who graduated with the best overall distinction on their course, with a PR Academy Course Award.

Livingstone was invited to speak at the event about the instrumental role that communications played in winning the 2012 Olympics for London. President of CIPR, Sally Sykes, co-presented the awards alongside Livingstone, and emphasised the importance of training in the industry.

She said: “The world of communications is continually evolving and it is vital that communicators adapt to keep their skills and knowledge current. It is only through continuous learning and honing of our skills that we can maintain our professional status and standards.”

With 2011 proving an increasingly busy year for student enrolment, PR Academy director Ann Pilkington understands the importance of training in the industry.

She said: “The number of students choosing to study with PR Academy over the past two years is, we think, a great indication of the growing professionalisation of the industry. Practitioners and their employers want and need to invest in professional development to keep pace with the changes in communications brought about by new technology, and the wider challenges facing organisations today. And we are consistently working to develop new courses to meet their needs, such as the recently launched PR Academy Digital Communications Certificate.”

The ceremony was part of a series of free events on public affairs conducted by the PR Academy for its alumni.