To demonstrate just how proud we all are of your success, we have created the Awards of Achievement, which are awarded annually to our ten most oustanding students.
The winners get back half the cost of their course fees!
It's never too late to learn a new subject and you'll get all the help you need - Alistair Vaux
I'm thrilled to have taken the Access to Paramedic Science course with DistanceLearningCentre.com and now be in a position to apply for a career in the Ambulance service.
After leaving school many years ago with poor grades, due to struggles with dyslexia and not getting the help I required, I wasn’t sure how I’d get on with the course. However, the materials were very useful and broken down into manageable sections. The tutors were also a great help and quick to respond to any questions. The flexibility of the course allowed me to study alongside my current job and gave me confidence in my own abilities. I'm now looking forward to changing my career path. I would recommend DistanceLearningCentre.com to anyone thinking of doing the same. It's never too late to learn a new subject and you'll get all the help you need. Thanks again! (June 2023)
The responsiveness of the tutors and the online DistanceLearningCentre.com community made me feel engaged and focused - Alexandra Lee
Becoming a midwife had been a decade long goal but the initial step seemed too daunting until I found DistanceLearningCentre.com through word of mouth. I joined end of March 2022 and started this incredible journey with just enough support from my tutors to allow me to gain confidence and retain independence in learning.
As a mum of four, time was not always on my side but the flexibility of working at my pace, the responsiveness of the tutors and the online DistanceLearningCentre.com community made me feel engaged and focused. The material was of great quality and provided incredible knowledge; the in-depth course was well organised and provided a great sense of achievement.
Additionally, the tutoring around university application, interviewing and personal growth was outstanding. Entering a very competitive university subject, I was expected to fail my first round of applications. I was invited to 2 out of 3 interviews and got offers for both universities.
Being nominated for an award of achievement comes as a great surprise to me as I still need to work on confidence; this shows how attentive DistanceLearningCentre.com continues to be once the course is finished. I appreciate this incredibly and intend to take the nomination with me into higher education as a proof of my capacity to succeed and be recognised for my hard work. Thank you DistanceLearningCentre.com for giving me the springboard I needed to achieve my goal. (June 2023)
I’ve worked hard to achieve my grades, but have really enjoyed it - Emily Davis
Just as the many lockdowns were lifting, my son had major surgery that didn’t go well. He’s fully recovered now, however, it was when I spent weeks on end in hospital with him, while trying to continue my demanding yet unfulfilling day job from a hospital chair I started researching opportunities for a career change, and to follow the dream I had when I was a child; to become a physiotherapist. After a few years of trying to just keep afloat and really struggling to keep motivated with all the medical challenges life had thrown at us; I realised that I needed to find a way to pursue a career that I was passionate about rather than just “go to work”.
I could not have been luckier when I found DistanceLearningCentre.com and decided to take a leap of faith and sign up to see how I got on. I knew it would not be easy as physio is a competitive course and I needed almost all distinctions to get onto my chosen courses. I was turning 40, with two young children and a demanding full-time job; daunted was an understatement. However, from my first phone call with my tutor I was given the reassurance and confidence that I would be able to achieve what I needed and, although it took a couple of months to settle back into learning again, I got into the swing of it. By halfway through the course, I had not even thought twice when it came to applying to university!
It’s not been easy – I’ve navigated another major surgery for my son, written an essay from my own hospital bed when I was an inpatient for a week myself, managed to keep working full time while looking after my children. This course has 100% given me the confidence to make it work and follow my dream, despite my constant doubting. The course has allowed me to thrive, I’ve worked hard to achieve my grades, but have really enjoyed it.
The tutors are so supportive – and the structure of modules allowed me to be completely prepared to write my UCAS form and attend interviews. My tutor helped me with this too and wrote me a reference for my application and I am now off to study physiotherapy at my first-choice university. I’ve also really benefited from the online community, and enjoyed helping some of my peers along the way too when I could. Now I’m all ready to start the next chapter in life, which would not have bene possible without the DistanceLearningCentre.com team. (June 2023)
With every positive comment, piece of constructive feedback and word of encouragement, I felt myself improving and gaining confidence - Jessica Higgins-Braddock
During the pandemic, I found myself desperately wanting to leave my job in Marketing to fulfill my dreams of working in a healthcare setting. I wanted to give back to society and help people struggling during the challenges of a global healthcare crisis. I applied for a job as Mental Health Support Worker and the rest was history!
After a few months of working in a locked rehabilitation service, I decided that I wanted to commit even further and prepare to become a Mental Health Nurse. I tried to talk myself out of it a few times as I was never an academic – I loved to write, and learn, but I struggled to commit to my studies and therefore hadn’t achieved much academically. After some gentle nudging from family and friends, I looked into doing an Access to Higher Education Diploma.
I knew that it would be tough alongside working as a full-time Mental Health Support Worker so I needed a course that could fit around that. In addition to this, I suffer from mental health issues (social anxiety and OCD) – this always held me back in the past, as I struggled to attend in-person training and push myself socially.
I came across DistanceLearningCentre.com and after reading the plethora of positive reviews, I took the plunge and signed up to do an Access to HE Nursing and Midwifery Diploma. Now, it wasn’t easy – we were still living through a pandemic, and I worked thirteen-hour shifts in healthcare several days a week and navigated my mental health issues, but I powered through. My tutors were some of the most knowledgeable, flexible, and understanding people I’d come across and for the first time in my life, I looked forward to doing assignments and submitting my work. With every positive comment, piece of constructive feedback and word of encouragement, I felt myself improving and gaining confidence. I can’t put into words how much my self-worth and morale improved just by receiving the right guidance.
I cannot thank my tutors, and DistanceLearningCentre.com, enough for helping me achieve what I didn’t think was possible. I didn’t realise I had the potential to see the diploma through but I’m forever grateful for my time being part of DistanceLearningCentre.com. (November 2022)
Studying an Access Course to HE whilst serving in the British Army has been a challenging yet rewarding endeavour - Alan Richardson
Alan Richardson has completed the Access to HE Diploma at an excellent level. He has been studying whilst serving in the Army. Alan has been in the British Army for 10 years as a Combat Medical Technician (CMT) in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He has been on multiple deployments to Afghanistan, Kenya and Canada. He has worked with many units including teeth arms units and is currently in an Instructor role training future Tri service (Navy, Army, RAF) CMT’s which is both a time consuming and mentally demanding job, but equally rewarding as he trains the next generation of Medics.
Studying an Access Course to HE whilst serving in his current job role involved overcoming adversity as, the life of an Army phase 2 and 3 instructor involves long working hours, frequent deployments to complete our mandatory clinical and educational/Instructional competencies. Alan wished to further his education to enable myself to transfer to a different job role (Radiographer). He had to balance his family life alongside both my military duties and academic challenges. This required great time management skills and the ability to prioritise tasks effectively, especially during the last two months of his course as he was working full time in the NHS assisting with the staff shortages while continuing his clinical portfolio and competencies. He found it challenging to complete the course in under 6 months but by being resilient and facing the challenges that arose during the course he completed his Access to HE course in time.
Pursuing an Access Course to HE while serving required academic excellence as the course is designed for individuals who don’t have traditional qualifications such as A-levels but wish to pursue higher education. Alan said that course was quite rigorous and demanding in places, requiring him to develop his critical thinking skills, research abilities and academic writing proficiency. He believes that by undertaking the course he has demonstrated academic excellence by consistently meeting high standards of academic performance throughout all of the units.
Studying an Access Course to HE whilst serving in the British Army has been a challenging yet rewarding endeavour for Alan, which improved his resilience, discipline and academic excellence. Thus, preparing him for his future university and new career course. By overcoming adversity and demonstrating academic excellence, he now has the ability to enhance his personal and professional development.
