Hometown: Truro
Course: FdSc Youth, Social and Community Studies
Next Steps: Social Worker apprenticeship with Cornwall Council
Local mum Claire enrolled on the FdSc Youth, Social and Community Studies degree at the University Centre as the opportunity to access Higher Education close to home allowed her to balance her studies with her home life and childcare. For Claire, accessing Higher Education locally was essential to enable her to work toward her dream career as a Social Worker.
“If the University Centre wasn’t available, I would’ve had to have gone to Plymouth or Exeter and the travel would’ve been too far,” Claire explained.
“It was easy in terms of work life balance and the children. The course was really flexible; my lecturers were able to meet my needs. My youngest child is 8, so having the flexibility was good.”
Claire also praised the smaller class sizes she felt beneficial to her as a mature student:
“The smaller class sizes gave me the opportunity to be able to ask more questions and get more information from lecturers. We had extra time to look at topics in more depth.
“All the resources were laid out well and the lecturers were so supportive.
“I’ve really enjoyed all the aspects of the course; in particular all the theories we have learned have been really interesting. I’ve enjoyed learning about community development and how everything interlinks with each other.”
During her degree, Claire found an apprenticeship with Cornwall Council that would put her on the right path to becoming a fully qualified social worker. Claire accessed support from Louise, the University Centre’s Careers Support Advisor, and was one of seven successful applicants out of two hundred applications for the job.
“I went to the University Centre’s Careers Support Advisor, Louise, as I wanted to apply for an apprenticeship that I’d seen advertised at the council. When it came to the application form, I wanted to know a little bit more about how to apply to make my application stand out. We did a bit of research together and I took that away and applied for the apprenticeship, and I got the job.”
Claire’s Foundation Degree means she can start in October on her second year of the apprenticeship as the council can use the credits she has already accumulated towards her apprenticeship.
After her apprenticeship training, Claire will do an assessed learning year and then will become a fully qualified social worker.
Alongside this, Claire volunteered at a primary school as local councillor alongside her university course, something she still does now.
Claire’s advice for students looking to take the step into Higher Education is: “do it; don’t hesitate. It’s scary at first but I’m a different person to who I was when I started.”
