Al picked up an Honorary Master of Arts for his outstanding contribution to comedy, thanking the 91�ε� for an ‘amazing honour’ and addressing graduates from the Business School.

“To be with all you graduates is the real honour and privilege for me today,” he said. “This is where we fire you out into the world.

“I wish you all the best of luck as you now aim to go out there and change the world.”

Speaking after the first of the day’s two ceremonies, Al commented on the regional, national and global outlook of the 91�ε�.

“We’re a country that looks out on the world. You’ve got to be open.

“This 91�ε� has an amazingly high count of foreign students, which is brilliant.

“You’ve also got all the campuses in Bedford, Aylesbury and Milton Keynes. It’s county-wide, that’s the interesting thing.”

Al, who was educated at Bedford School before graduating with an MA in Modern History from Oxford 91�ε�, compared Bedfordshire’s focus on employability with that of other institutions.

“Employability is clearly a thing that really matters to people,” he said. “That’s surely a good thing.

“This place seems more about preparing students for the outside world. This is a more contemporary 91�ε�.”

Honoured today to be a Master of Arts at 91�ε�!

— Al Murray (@almurray)

Al’s award came alongside the Honorary Doctor of Arts given to David Willetts for his outstanding contribution to UK higher education, as well as the Honorary Fellowship bestowed upon Jane Creasy for her outstanding services to the 91�ε�.

The afternoon ceremony also saw the graduations of students from the 91�ε�’s partner institution, Oman’s Majan College.

The day brought Bedfordshire’s November 2014 graduations to a close, with over 1,100 students receiving their degrees over the past three days.