Adult learner Joe conquers anxiety over education return to land Russell Group University place

Joe, 34, enrolled on our Access to Higher Education Diploma in Science (Maths and Physics) in 2021 having dropped out of education without completing his A Levels more than a decade earlier.

In between, he had drifted from one job to the next but always retained an interest in engineering and, after the Covid-19 pandemic, summoned up the courage to turn his passion into a potential career – however daunting that journey might have seemed at the time.

With support from College, though, Joe thrived on the Access course and is now studying a Foundation Degree in Engineering at the University of York, which will lead to him progressing onto the full Bachelor of Engineering Degree next year.  

Admitting that he still has to pinch himself to check he’s not dreamt it all, Joe went on to enthuse: “I really love this place (York College), because I owe everything I’m doing now to here. I’m so grateful because I had no idea what I was going to do before I heard about the course.

“I wasn’t a very good learner as a teenager and I didn’t attend much. Things got in the way and I felt like I didn’t end up achieving anything.

“I did a bit of sixth form, but I got some GSCEs and a couple of AS Levels and that was it. It wasn’t for me at the time and really put me off so, for 15 years, I was just in and out of jobs and wasn’t in education.

“Then, during the pandemic, I thought what am I doing with my life and I need to start turning it around. Thankfully, the college really gave me a chance to do that.

“I wasn’t even sure I could do it, but the college was really, really helpful, which I’m very grateful for. The course looked like a good way to get back into education and seemed quite accessible for everyone, including people with my qualifications and even less.

“I looked at it and thought, ‘That’s something I’d like to do’. Everyone on the course was friendly, so I decided I’d give it a go.

“I didn’t want to do Distance Learning and pay out a lot of money to try and motivate myself with no academic skills at all and the support I got from all the teachers the whole way through was superb. I had a lot of anxiety in my early 20s about coming back into education, which sounds a bit silly now I’m 34 and doing it, but that stopped me back then.

“We also had to isolate during Covid for a long time due to my mum’s heart disease and coming to College was like coming back into the world a bit. I gained a lot of confidence in my ability in terms of knowing what I could do and felt my horizons broaden. Because we were a smaller group, the more experienced people helped the students with less experience, too.”

Joe is also thankful that York College gave him the opportunity to turn a lifelong passion into a potential career pathway, saying: “I’ve always wondered how things work.

“That’s always bothered me. I want to understand on a deep level how things work and how to make stuff. I find it interesting – for example, we all get in lifts, but I want to know how they operate.”

Joe reckons, too, that the Access course has proved perfect preparation for his venture into Higher Education and even expresses how it touched upon skills that have placed him ahead of some of his new Foundation Degree peers in terms of his academic journey.

“The teaching was great at College and all the tutors were friendly,” he declared. “I think we had eight students in our class and I learnt so much.

“They taught me a lot about independent learning, which has been a massive help for me going forward, having not done anything in education for so long. I feel like I’m breezing through the Foundation Degree now because of the skills I was taught at College.

“A lot of people who have gone through the traditional A Level route don’t know how to plan out and structure essays and things like that. But (York College tutor) Rich (Hodgson) has a PhD, so he taught us how to write papers properly, which we’re doing now on the Foundation Degree.

“There were elements of the Access course that you don’t necessarily learn in a degree until a couple of years in, so it’s given me a massive leg-up and put me in such a good standing. I’ve been given the skills to feel like I’m capable of university study.

“I’m not fazed about it and College has given me the tools to go and get it. It really sorted me out, gave me my confidence back and put me on a good path.

“I’d recommend the Access course to anyone and I wish I’d known about it in my 20s. It’s given me such a good grounding.

“Without what I was taught about independent learning at College, I would have struggled a lot at uni, because I have to do it all the time now.”

Joe made the decision to resit his Maths GCSE at College, meanwhile, as he appreciated during the early weeks of the Access course that he needed to acquire a greater knowledge of that subject in order to make the progress he desired.

“I really enjoyed that course as well and got a 6,” he explained. “It took me a bit of time to understand what that meant, because I wasn’t used to the new grades, but I believe it’s the equivalent of an old B, so I was pretty chuffed with that.

“It also prepared me for where I needed to be for the Access course and the GCSE teaching was really good and thorough. There were only three of us in the class and you can’t really get that level of attention without forking out a fortune for a private tutor.

“I felt so out of tune with my Maths and, while doing the GCSE meant I was here for an extra year, it really set me up for the Access course.”

From feeling unfulfilled in a series of jobs, Joe is now excited by the multitude of vocational pathways he could follow as an eventual Engineering graduate.

“Having come to College, I’ve been quite inspired by the thought of teaching, but engineering was where I wanted to end up when I set out on this journey and College have got me well on the way, so I do want to finish in that field,” he pointed out. “I’ve still got a long way to go, but I’m getting there, which I’m really happy about.

“With its Maths and Science elements, studying engineering also makes it applicable to so many roles. It’s such a good degree to do, as it opens doors to all sorts of things – everything from aerospace to weapons to cars and trains.”

To learn more about our Access to Higher Education Diploma in Science (Maths & Physics) please click here

Full details on all of our Access courses can be found here

Our next Open Event on Monday 10th February (5.30pm-8pm) will also offer an opportunity to find out more about our full course offering and a chance to meet tutors. You can register a place here