A 48-year-old student from Solihull College & University is gearing up for university, 32 years after leaving school with no GCSEs.
Satwant Kaur struggled at school and admits she was the student who used to look out the window all the time. She comments: “School was a struggle for me. Back then it wasn’t the norm for teachers to pick up on dyslexia, they just thought I was lazy.”
After finishing school, Satwant quickly got married and started a family, welcoming her two sons when she was 19 and 21. She always wanted to work in the care industry and started to work in childcare, followed by a range of other roles before finding herself in financial services. Although she liked the work, she always felt something was missing. During covid though, something changed.
“I hated working from home, so I realised I needed to do something, make that change, better myself educationally to work as a mental health nurse. I had an NVQ in Dementia Care which I worked towards in my late 30s so I knew it wasn’t too late. I looked at the pre-access courses at the College to see if it was the correct route for me.”
The College offers several routes to university depending on a student’s prior qualifications and/or experience. These courses allow people who left school with no qualifications get on the ladder towards university.
Satwant initially enrolled on a ‘pre- access’ course, followed by the Access to Higher Education Diploma in Health. She comments: “My family were so supportive. They had always encouraged me to do more but were shocked I was actually on a road to university!”
Following completion of the Access to Higher Education course, Satwant has now accepted a place at Newman University where she will study for her mental health nursing degree. She will qualify when she is 51 and believes it’s never too late to start over – “Everyone has it in them, you just need to find your own way.”
We wish Satwant all the very best.
