2024-2025

I am focused on transitioning to a career as a Social Worker - Candice Corke

I've had quite an adventurous and thoughtful journey so far. Growing up on the small island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. I’ve aspired to join the Royal Navy in pursuit of personal growth and creating a better future for my family. Serving on HMS Dauntless and HMS Duncan has given me unique experiences, and now I am focused on transitioning to a career as a Social Worker. I am thinking ahead, not only for myself but also for the positive impact I have on others.

Now am currently balancing the decision to leave the Navy in order to pursue and follow my dreams of becoming a Social Worker. I know it will be a tough one, but my commitment to providing a better life for myself and helping others is something I aspire to, and am very fond and proud of.

The structure of the course, materials provided and support from the tutor were so valuable - Suzie Francis

After caring for my terminally ill child for 2 years I knew I had a passion for helping others in my situation and wanting to make a difference, without the qualifications to get into a role in children’s nursing I felt like I wouldn’t be able to pursue this career, until I found the Access to Nursing Diploma on DistanceLearningCentre.com. I read the reviews online and signed up, within 2 days I was speaking to my tutor and starting my first unit. Having not been in education for 15 years, it was daunting going back to studying and completing assignments; however, the structure of the course, materials provided and support from the tutor were so valuable. The developmental models and feedback received gave me the confidence to continue and enabled me to apply for university. Due to family commitments, I was only able to apply to 2 local universities, and I was overjoyed to receive offers from both.

My goal was to complete the diploma in a year with at least 30 distinctions, I am so pleased I managed to complete in 10 months with 45 distinctions, all whilst working full time and caring for a young family. The positive feedback from my tutors gave me the drive to keep excelling, and it has given me a new-found confidence that when you put your mind to something, you really can achieve it!

This course has given me the skills, assurance and resilience to step back into full-time education and pursue a career I am truly passionate about. Inspired by so many incredible nurses I have met over the years, I am turning the pain of losing my son into purpose and pushing myself out of my comfort zone to continue my studies at university and become a registered children’s nurse. I cannot thank DistanceLearningCentre.com and my tutors enough for their support and guidance throughout, and would highly recommend them to anyone wanting to further their academic studies.

Who knows what’s next? My diploma will assist my credibility throughout my life endeavours for certain.  - Cristiano Quintal

I’m Cristiano Manuel Quintal Fa: age 32

I started my journey first working as a carer in a disabilities occupational therapy centre back in 2021, shortly after the pandemic. My life changed forever, and I started to devote my life working towards contributing to society and was guided towards furthering my education and seeing how I could do my job 10 times better. 

Throughout my diploma in Health and Social Care, along with its units in psychology, I became a nursing assistant at St Bernard’s hospital in Gibraltar and have completed my entire studies offshore and online and have found this flexibility encouraging!

Now that I have completed my studies, I currently work in education in an upper primary school, to which, prior to working with kids, I wanted to potentially do a degree in nursing but have decided to further develop on my current degree and master degree and have chosen to save for a PGCE and perhaps become a teacher myself. Who knows what’s next? My diploma will assist my credibility throughout my life endeavours for certain. 

Thank you, DistanceLearningCentre.com! 

I succeeded and got an unconditional offer to study Medical Science at university - Jake Vaughan

School was always a challenge for me. With autism, ADD, and other difficulties, I barely scraped by and failed all of my GCSE options. After drifting in and out of college for years without a plan and failing every course, I eventually found myself in a dead-end job.

I fortunately managed to get an entry-level IT role through a three-year apprenticeship. It was progress, but by 25, I felt stuck again. I had dedicated years to learning only to end up in a poorly paid job I didn’t enjoy, and I still lacked the qualifications to move forward.

At that point, resitting GCSEs or A levels and going back to college didn’t feel realistic. I’d already tried and failed, and losing a full-time wage wasn’t an option. Being autistic, I knew I needed something structured and well organised.

That’s when I found DistanceLearningCentre.com. They offered a range of online access courses that would get me into university and a career I was actually interested in. Additionally, I could do all of this while working, and at first, it seemed too good to be true.

Upon enrolling to an Access to HE Diploma for Science, I was genuinely surprised by how professional and well-organised everything was. Enrolment was quick, and the admin staff were responsive. A dedicated learning support team arranged a call immediately after enrolment to see how they could support me and my additional learning needs, which was something I’d never been offered in school or college.

From the start, there were live webinars to guide me, and the support staff answered all my questions. Following this, I was introduced to my subject tutors. I started with biology. The course tutor was amazing and made difficult concepts easy to understand. The course structure was excellent, and with clear unit objectives, I always knew exactly what I needed to do. DistanceLearningCentre.com also has an extensive digital library covering a wide range of topics, as well as detailed learning materials. If I found something difficult to understand, the tutors were always available to support me.

Even working full-time, I managed to complete the course in seven months to meet university applicant deadlines. Not only is the course flexible, but the tutors are available all day, so I could speak with them after work or on my lunch breaks. Most importantly, the course gave me confidence. For the first time, I was studying something I was interested in, and the structure made it achievable. I succeeded and got an unconditional offer to study Medical Science at university, which I’d never thought possible. I am grateful to the DistanceLearningCentre.com; they have opened so many doors for me.

My tutor was really helpful and explained everything really well, giving me clear, detailed feedback to help me improve - Emily Baker

I started the Access to HE Humanities Diploma in 2024, focusing on English. I finished my GCSEs the year before, and following a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, I didn’t feel ready to go into sixth form yet. DistanceLearningCentre.com gave me the opportunity to continue studying what I love from home, with flexible and easy-to-access modules. Due to this, I learned to manage my time effectively, and the structure meant that I was able to plan when I wanted to study, enabling me to become more independent.

My tutor was really helpful and explained everything really well, giving me clear, detailed feedback to help me improve. The UCAS process was really straightforward, and DistanceLearningCentre.com provided step-by-step guides that were easy to follow. I really enjoyed my English course, particularly the ‘19th Century Novel’ module that looked at Jane Austen’s ‘Sense and Sensibility’. DistanceLearningCentre.com has given me so much confidence, and I am really excited to be going to the University of Southampton in September 2025 to do a joint degree in English and History!