From AHE towards a PhD: An academic odyssey

About to start studying for his doctorate, Andy Byrne is on quite the epic academic journey.

Andy had suffered with juvenile arthritis from the age of four, and was on crutches or in a wheelchair until, at the age of 19, he had a hip replacement operation, which, he says, changed his life.

As a result of his childhood illness, he'd experienced chronic pain throughout his school years in Kent. He'd found it extremely difficult to sit still in class and to concentrate on his studies.

But he'd always been interested in music and, at the time of his hip replacement, was studying at Leeds College of Music. He went on to become a professional musician, specializing in jazz guitar, touring and gigging around the country, and performing indie rock favourites at weddings and other social functions.

That's something he still does, and still enjoys.

"But about seven years ago I started to feel I was intellectually undernourished in my work," he says. "I felt I may have somehow missed out by not going further in my academic life."

He'd found out about an Access to Higher Education course in Humanities run at York College, and discovered that he could continue to work while he studied. 

"I thought it would be the perfect way to dip my toe back into that world, and to find out if returning to academic studies would be the right thing for me," he explains. "It felt like a relatively low-risk and easily managed way back in."

He was 26 when he started the course, and he found that he loved it.

"It's still the best academic experience I've ever had," he says. "Everyone who's there really wants to be there. They've chosen to be there because of their interest in learning. Everyone had different reasons and different stories. They were such an interesting, rich and diverse group of characters.

"And we had the most incredible teacher who made use of our varied experiences to make the classroom a truly exciting learning environment, a place for real debate."

After completing his Access to HE Diploma, Andy progressed to the University of York, where he studied for a BA in History and Politics. And, following that, he moved on to take a Master's in the history of political thought at the University of London.

He has now been accepted onto a PhD programme at the University of York, with funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, to start his doctoral research this autumn in seventeenth-century political philosophy.

"The Access course absolutely changed my life," he says. "It's such a wonderful and accessible way to do that. I wish more people knew about it – and I'd 100% encourage people to try it. You don't necessarily need to go on and do more and more in academia, as I've done. I've seen how it's bolstered so many people in their own lives and aspirations, whatever path they choose to take."