Determined Danny on his way to a law degree

Danny suffers from cerebral palsy, making his achievement even more admirable

Danny Astridge is a 17-year-old student from Castleton who went to Hopwood Hall College from Wardle High School to study for a BTEC National Diploma in Business. He has since achieved an overall triple distinction grade profile, the highest grade achievable.

Danny suffers from cerebral palsy, making his success even more admirable.

His tutor Linda Williams explained: “On joining the programme Danny was very quiet but quickly integrated with his peers. However, over the course of the programme he has developed in confidence and has made some great friends in his group, so much so that he has kept other students in his group on track and motivated. He has found the programme topics fascinating, wide-ranging and demanding at times.”

Danny is an active member of College life and has taken up a full gym membership at the College and has progressed to an advanced gym programme.

He initially had no ambition to continue to higher education. However, on studying a law unit as part of his business course at Hopwood Hall, he was inspired to apply to study for a law degree at university.

Within two weeks of submitting his application Danny was delighted to receive offers from five prominent universities. Danny said: “My success at Hopwood has been through sheer determination and hard work as well as the staff at the College supporting and challenging me, particularly my Course Tutor Linda Williams and my Educational Support Yvonne Whitehead. I would like to give a special thanks to all my tutors, especially to Tony Tudor who inspired me to apply to study law.”