Congratulations to our Access to HE students, Nicola and Fatou, as they have won an award in the highly commended category at the AIM Access to Higher Education Virtual awards and Keith Fletcher Access to HE memorial prize “Outstanding Academic Achievement.

Nicola has demonstrated outstanding commitment to her Access studies from start to finish but she has also shown compassion, empathy, and courage in the way she has supported others that are also facing challenging personal circumstances to enable them to complete their journey successfully. 

Nicola has been unswerving in her aim to be the best she could be but never forgot the value of supporting others to do the same and this has culminated in a very strong friendship with her peers.

Nicola comments:

“Leaving a career I had worked in for over 20 years and returning to education was, at the time, one of the scariest things I have ever done. However, it turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life.

I was so worried as I walked through the college gates and into the classroom on my first day, but as I sat down, all my worries dissipated. The tutors were so welcoming and helped everybody settle in.

Every day I learned something new. I enjoyed expanding my learning at home, further researching topics we had discussed in class, and presenting what I had learned. I started to tell myself that ‘I can do this’.  Applying for University and attending interviews was exciting and nerve-wracking, but receiving three offers within quick succession was unbelievable.

I knew when I started the course that it would be challenging but never could I have imagined it would turn into one of the hardest and yet most rewarding times of my life, learning far more than I ever expected. I hope I have also taught something, to my three children, never be afraid of change and if you want something bad enough, anything is possible. Even when life throws you a curveball.”

Another one of our students, Fatou, has also been highly commended. Only moving to the UK in 2019 from Senegal, she has an amazing vocabulary in both verbal and written work.

She has accomplished outstanding achievements in her desire to gain as much as she can from this course to support her through university when she begins in September for Medical Science and then onto Medicine. She has had excellent attendance and she is quietly determined to succeed and fully participates in the lessons and interacts with her peers to find out more about new areas of learning. It is clear that she puts every effort into achieving highly with regard to presentation, structure, content, research, and referencing.
 

Fatou’s biology tutor comments:

“Fatou has shown an excellent level of understanding and has structured her work clearly and fluently. Fatou was able to demonstrate a high level of knowledge and had an excellent grasp of the levels of organisation needed for this course." 

Well done to both Nicola and Fatou for being recognised for their outstanding commitment and determination on the Access to HE Diploma in Health course, resulting in them progressing to university in September 2023.