2022-2023

The course has given me the tools and more importantly the confidence that I can apply to universities and be accepted - Tiffany Avery

My name is Tiffany Avery, I am 31 years old and have been a serving member of the Royal Air Force since 2010. I have a full-time job and a 4-year-old little boy so a distance learning course was ideal for my situation. 

I started the Acces to HE Diploma in Health and Social care as I had recently been in a support role within the RAF, I found it a very rewarding job. Now I have completed this course, I am hoping I can use the credits I have gained to complete higher education and eventually become an adult social worker.

This is something I never thought I’d be capable of completing, I have never been academic in any capacity and struggled immensely at school due to various un-diagnosed SpLD’s which were eventually picked up once I had joined the RAF.

My tutor has been consistently great throughout. The course has taken me longer than expected due to work commitments and my partner deploying half way through, but I was offered the opportunity to take a break with no explanations needed and I felt fully supported throughout the course. If I had any questions, they were answered immediately and I was under absolutely no pressure to complete work or study. By engaging with my tutor, numerous extensions were given and speedy results were received, which for me was perfect. The individual learning plan was brilliant to reference when assignments were due in, and this has without a doubt boosted my confidence that I can achieve my goals, in spite of any difficulties I may face.

I felt fully supported, and whilst offering an abundance of knowledge on a role I am so eager to undertake, the course has given me the tools and more importantly the confidence that I can apply to universities and be accepted, something I never dreamed was achievable for me. Along with my little boy and my career in the forces, this is in my top three achievements and I am over the moon to have completed it. (June 2023)

I gained more confidence ... and I achieved the highest marks possible - Addy Ndhlovu

I had finished my A levels 20 years earlier and was approaching 40 years old. Through a lot of research from universities and online, I found doing an Access to HE Diploma in Allied Health Professions was going to be my best way to go into university to study physiotherapy.

From recommendations I made enquiries with DistanceLearningCentre.com and from the word go, I was impressed with the way they explained how everything would be structured for me to complete the course and also with the highest grades possible.

True to their word, I started the course and everything went flawlessly. The tutors helped me navigate every part of the course that I had problems with. The course had very relevant study materials and the course was set in a way that I could continue to go to work full time and have time to do the coursework. This prompted me to gain more confidence as I went along the course and I am glad to say I achieved the highest marks possible.

My sincere gratitude goes to my tutors who guided me and the Facebook community whose valuable information and encouragement propelled me further than I thought I would go. Having left High School 2 decades ago I never gave up on going to university and if can do it, with guidance from DistanceLearningCentre.com and a bit of motivation, anyone certainly can. (November 2022)

The relief and sense of achievement in completing my Access Diploma, at a standard I aspired to, has been the most validating moment of my life - Tesnica Bicknell

'It is never too late to be what you might have been' - George Eliot

This was my internal thinking in the background of discouraging myself, for many years, from pursuing my dream career to becoming a Paramedic. Being a mature student in my early thirties, who had left school before I could fully complete GCSEs, I was convinced that further education just wasn't in my capabilities. Especially 'at my age'. However, as a junior NHS healthcare professional, I soon realised my strengths and potential from encouraging colleagues, and decided not to miss out on what felt like a calling...

I had a goal and needed a plan to prevent a dream from becoming another daydream.  I discovered DistanceLearningCentre.Com through a little online research. The centre was offering fully accredited Diplomas, with full flexibility and at a competitive price to many other distance courses I saw online. I took the leap and I haven't looked back.

The Access to HE Diploma in Paramedic Science has now opened the gateway to me entering university this year. As common and traditional as it is for many, the reality of entering university this year is nonetheless, a huge, sentimental and important achievement for me, as someone from a difficult and disadvantaged background, who thought it was too late and not possible for someone like me.

With a full time job in forensic healthcare, the additional strain we faced in the NHS to battle COVID, and my own ongoing ill-health that required multiple hospital admissions and a lengthy recovery period, I was becoming more and more doubtful that I could complete the course that I had set out to achieve. However, although the Diploma was challenging in such difficult circumstances, and took me three years to complete, rather than one, I did it, and I did it with thirty-six distinctions over the university's requirements of twenty-one. I cried when I received my first conditional offer from the second-best BSc Paramedic Science degree in the country, and then cried again when offered my second and third noteworthy options.

The relief and sense of achievement in completing my Access Diploma, at a standard I aspired to, has been the most validating moment of my life and one that I will never forget in that moment of receiving my university offers. I believe I am one example of what can still be achieved academically, irrespective of age, background and presenting challenges that veer so far away from the orthodox route to further education and university. It is my genuine feeling that without the continued support of my phenomenal tutor that I may have given up on my course. I was most genuinely supported, encouraged, understood and never deterred from fulfilling my potential at every knock back and step of the way to completion. 

I would highly recommend pursuing further education for those that have that same little voice in the background, and I would, even more so, highly recommend doing it through the DistanceLearningCentre.com. Their platform gave me the flexibility, guidance and support I needed. The materials to complete assignments and exams were plentiful with help and guidance from my tutor on hand, weekly. My tutor helped me to see where I could or needed to make improvements and her feedback was really considered and thorough.

I am dramatically more confident and assured in my abilities to study, and at the standard I need. My friends and family are incredibly proud and excited with me at what the future can now hold. I have strong ambitions to study as far as I can within my abilities and reach goals of specialising and maybe teaching in my field, and sentimentally for me, hoping and knowing that maybe my story can encourage others that want to do the same but felt just as doubtful.

Studying a course with DistanceLearningCentre.com, whether for simple interest or intrigue into a subject or like me, to turn a dream into a viable goal, in my experience, is absolutely worth the investment and commitment. It can make lives more interesting or change them completely, as it's doing for me and my future.

My advice to anyone considering taking the leap; no matter age, background or lack of confidence, is to go for it and with the best possible people to support you, like the DistanceLearningCentre.com did for me. (June 2023)

The course had great learning materials and there was so much support from the tutors and other students on the Facebook group - Vicki Worsley

After giving birth to my daughter in 2020, I decided to pursue a career in primary education, so I enrolled on the Childhood Studies Access to HE Diploma. It had been 17 years since I was last in education and I was nervous about studying again. A distance learning course felt like the right fit as my daughter only attended nursery 2 days a week, so I needed to be able to fit my studies in around her schedule.

The course had great learning materials and there was so much support from the tutors and other students on the Facebook group. The course content helped me to understand the many different aspects of child development and I’ve gained lots of confidence and learned so much along the way. Part way through, I had major surgery and needed to focus on my recovery. My tutor fully supported me and we amended my deadlines so I was still able to finish my course in time for moderation. I achieved distinctions in all of my graded assessments. I applied to two universities and received conditional offers from both. In September I will start the next step to becoming a Primary School Teacher. (June 2023)

From the first moment, my tutor provided me with outstanding support and reassured me that I can finish my Diploma and she would be with me in every step of the way - Jogita Vilsone

I always had a dream of studying in university, but I was seriously lacking confidence, since I’ve been out of education for 7 years, and didn’t know where to begin. I was looking through access courses, since my time of studying was very limited due to personal responsibilities such as work, parenting and developing my own business. Covid also affected a lot, because studying in classroom was not an option and online studying meant a lot less in person support from tutors. To make things even more confusing English is not my first language and I did not know if I was able to produce good enough quality assignments.

But, from the first moment, my tutor provided me with outstanding support and reassured me that I can finish my Diploma and she would be with me in every step of the way. Her detailed explanations and feedback gave me the confidence to keep going and my work got so much better! She was always one email away, with quick replies and tutorials every time I had questions, or something wasn’t clear enough. I’m so grateful for all the support I received including video tutorials and supporting materials about every topic which made studying so much easier.

DistanceLearningCentre.com also provided me with tools to help navigate and apply through UCAS which resulted in a successful university application. Thank you to my tutor and DistanceLearningCentre.com for a detailed reference and the endless support that I received throughout my Diploma!