New skills for adult learners

Buy photos » Anita Bennett made a return to studying by enrolling on an access course. (s)

AN ADULT learner is hoping others will follow her example and join courses later in life.

Anita Bennett is urging residents to sign up to learn new skills during Adult Learners' Week (May 12 to 18). The 46-year-old from Bromsgrove is studying the access to higher education in nursing course at the NEW College business centre in Osprey House, Redditch.

Having worked in sales since leaving school, Anita decided to change the direction of her career when the company she worked for moved to Birmingham. Her motivation for returning to education came after she volunteered with the Stroke Association and worked with their occupational therapists.

"I contacted various colleges which offered access courses and after my interview at NEW College decided it was the place to study due to the tutor's enthusiasm for the course and making me realise I was not too old.

"The decision to study the access course has changed my life and I have enjoyed every minute of it. I have achieved things I never thought possible such as passing a maths exam for the first team and learning IT skills which were alien to me.

"All this has been achieved by the hard work and dedication of the tutors who understand that you have not studied for a long time and the support you receive is fantastic."

Thanks to her studies at NEW College, Anita will now study occupational therapy from September at Coventry University.

For more information about Adult Learners' Week, visit www.alw.org.uk or to speak to college staff about the adult study, call 01527 572688.

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