Mature student achieves against the odds

Denise Jones

A mature student who decided to return to education is one step closer to her dream of entering the teaching profession.

Denise Jones, 42, began studying for a NVQ Level 2 Health and Social Care course at Hopwood Hall College’s Rochdale Campus in 2009. After completing the course in just a few months Ms Jones Denise then enrolled on the next level up Health and Social Care course.

During this time, Ms Jones encountered some health issues and, sadly, one of her close relatives became very poorly. This didn’t perturb the tenacious mature student and she persisted with her studies, managing to complete the course on time.

With her Health and Social Care qualifications under her belt, Ms Jones decided that she would like to become an NVQ Assessor or to enter into the teaching profession within a college.

So she completed her A1 Assessor Award in September 2010 and enrolled on the College’s ‘Preparing to Teach in Lifelong Learning Sector’ programme; this is the qualification that people study in order to secure a job as a college lecturer.

Ms Jones was delighted to find out recently that she is one step closer to her dream, having successfully passed the teaching course.

Her tutor Linda Lowe, said: “Denise was a model student very motivate and a pleasure to work with.”