Graduation can be a pretty intimidating time for any student.

You might have pretty much no idea what you want to do with your life after the big day is over, but, you know what? That’s absolutely okay for a lot of people.

To calm you down as you prepare to leave Newcastle for the last time, check out this list of famous faces who walked the halls of Tyneside – and a lot of them had no idea what they wanted to do in life until much later, either.

Tim Farron

What did they study? Politics

What year did they graduate? 1992

The former Lib Dems leader learnt his craft on Tyneside, gaining a BA in politics more than 25 years ago.

Wilko Johnson

What did they study? English language and literature

What year did they graduate? 1970

The Dr Feelgood frontman found his way with words studying English language and literature at Newcastle in the 60s.

Rowan Atkinson

What did they study? Electrical and electronic engineering

What year did they graduate? 1975

The famous comedian perhaps best-known as Mr Bean did a completely unrelated degree to his later successes in comedy and show business, studying electrical and electronic engineering at Newcastle.

Bryan Ferry

What did they study? Fine art

What year did they graduate? 1968

The singer and songwriter studied fine art at Newcastle in the 60s before creating some pretty darn fine art of his own later on in his career.

Ed Stafford

What did they study? Geography

What year did they graduate? 1998

The first human ever to walk the length of the Amazon river learned about the world with his geography degree in Newcastle, giving him all the tools to go on to be one of the greatest explorers of our generation.

Last Updated on September 2, 2022

Published on September 3, 2019