“ We help our Access students with their UCAS forms and their p ersonal s tatements really do speak for themselves – many have had to o vercome adversity. Some have drifted away from education, or taken the scenic route, while others have had negative experiences of educatio n, impacting their confidence. Ou r students are all busy, many juggle childcare, work, other caring responsibilities. “ We have options for students to attend morning, afternoon, or evening classes. She explain s that one of the programme’s great advantages for people wanting to get back into education from full - t ime work is that it is part- time over its one year duration. Programme director Rachael King has seen many students come through who have been out of formal education for three years or more. I dropped out of school and moved to London at 19 and kind of fell into a job.”įor many Access students, including Tracey, part - time study makes the course possible. As a result, I completely lost interest and became a bit of a wild child – I was more interested in pubs, boys and drinking. In all, I went to nine different schools as I grew up. “From ages 13 to 15 I changed schools between Canada and England three times. Now entering Year 3 of a social sciences degree at Edinburgh and planning a career as a social worker, Donna says: “ I haven’t looked back since then – the University has been great in ensuring I receive the support I require to succeed and has implemented adjustments to assist me to do so.”įor Tracey McShane, the programme meant the chance to fulfil a long-cherished dream to gain a painting degree. I became disillusioned and, after achieving some mediocre exam results, I chose to leave school and seek employment.” “By then it was too late to have any support measures put in place. It was only just before Donna sat her GCSE’s that she was diagnosed as dyslexic by an educational psychologist. I couldn’t understand why – I did my best – I paid attention and revised for exams – but despite this I found that my grades never fully reflected the effort I put in.” “Throughout my time at school I struggled academically. “I still get a buzz when I attend lectures and tutorials, knowing that every day I am a step forward to qualifying for a career I always wanted,” she says. She made the decision to return after having her family and while working as a social services support worker. We interviewed seven students who’ve recently completed the one year Access Programme and gone on to study for a degree at the University of Edinburgh.įor Donna Telford, the course meant the chance to return to education 15 years after leaving school. For students of all ages and backgrounds, who have been out of formal education for three years or more, there is now another chance. Now, however, thanks to an initiative called the Access Programme at the University of Edinburgh, this is no longer the case.
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