Successful careers
Elizabeth Christian
Yvonne Brissett
Mark Field
Trudy Ing
Dr Stuart Prior
Linda White
Albert Phipps
Ian Webber
Gabrielle Holmes
Dr Erik Johansson Cox
Nneka Akudolu
Susan Nelson
Scott Ellis
Sue Long
Current degree students
Sarah Kate Bennett
Laurie Pycroft
Alexander Walker
Chris Healey
Belinda Robinson
Mark Williams
Laura Lacey
Nicola Power
Current Access to HE students
Albert Phipps
1995: Access Study Skills, Psychology and Sociology, Bolton College
1998: Bsc Social Psychology, Bolton Institute of Higher Education*
1999: PGCE, Bolton Institute of Higher Education
2010: Lecturer at the University of Bolton
As a teenager I was convinced that people like me couldn't go to university. It wasn't until the age of 35 that I discovered this was not the case at all. A visit to the library introduced me to Access to HE and inspired me to enrol on a two-year course at my local college. It didn't matter that I had left school with no qualifications.
From my first day, the tutors were very supportive and I began to realise just how much ability I actually had. The assignments were challenging, but interesting, and with the help of my partner I juggled coursework with my full-time warehouse job. I was finally gaining the confidence and self-belief that I'd lacked at school.
When my tutor told me I was well capable of getting a degree I couldn’t believe it. Completing the Access course enabled me to gain a place at university - something I never thought was possible when I was at school. When I graduated with a first class degree I felt so proud, and a year later I went on to complete a PGCE.
I now teach Psychology on an Access to HE course at the University of Bolton, working with students of all ages and backgrounds to help them progress to higher education. I am always reminding them that Access to HE really can change students' lives. Just as it did for me!
* Now the University of Bolton