Fab 5 Awards

Richard Curtis

I achieved very little during my school life, with such highlights as being taken from my class and placed alone in a room whilst all the other kids took 'the 11+'. It was said that it would have been too distressing for me to sit it, and they were right. As the years went by I became a successful business owner, married, and the father of two fantastic children, family life filled all the gaps ... or so I thought.

I decided to revisit education after many years of being away from it. A nagging feeling that I had underachieved kept bugging me, and so a plan was hatched, I would return to school! I chose a course on Medical Professions as this had always been of an interest to me, and who knew where it might lead? Due to problems at home, at first I dragged my heels through the course, what's the point I thought? I was trying to not make decisions, just hoping something would happen that would solve my problems for me.

I eventually finished the maths and English, it was here that I started to think again, and I changed my main study to Psychology. These studies showed me how to look again at other people's lives and difficulties, and to see beyond the 'obvious'. Learning Psychology also helped to bring a calmness and clarity with respect to my other problems.

I learnt in my studies that the most important thing is not to write what you think you should, but to write what you believe in, to be honest, open and to take the risk that may go against your natural instincts of timidity and lack of confidence.

I also wish there was a 'Fab Tutor Award as I would like to nominate mine, for keeping me on track, for support beyond support, for the encouragement and belief and occasional kick up the arse. I can only say thank you, because anything else would not be enough.

Kelly Downs

DistanceLearningCentre.com has given me the chance of pursuing my dream career. I did not have the option of giving up work to attend college to gain an access diploma but distance learning has allowed me the freedom to study in my own time.

The course is very well structured and easy to follow, I would highly recommend DistanceLearningCentre.com to anyone who requires further education to be able to secure a place on their university course.

The tutors are extremely supportive, knowledgeable and always quick to respond to questions. The structured course easily fits in around external commitments, whether that be a full time job, children or, in my case both! Enrol now!! Follow your dream!

Nina Lee

Once I had decided I wanted to become a Midwife I knew I would need to complete an Access to Higher Education Course so I could go to University. I chose DistanceLearningCentre.com over other routes as I thought it would be the best fit for me in order to complete the course around my other commitments at home and work.

Being a mature student I did worry about being able to cope with the work load and be able to achieve the grades I needed. When you haven't studied in over 16 years it can be daunting.

I must say I received a great amount of Support from tutors and the managers at DistanceLearningCentre.com. Whenever I needed help they were just an email/Phone call away. Without them I wouldn't have made it through and been able to complete the Diploma with the required grades for my University Place.

I can't wait to start my Midwifery Degree in September! Thank you DistanceLearningCentre.com!!

Lisa Watts

I was a single parent who wanted to better myself so that my child would have a better life. I was always on minimum paid work and worried that this would always be it. I decided to phone around universities to see how I would be able to enrol onto a social work course as this has always been my chosen profession (I was told at school my grades weren't good enough to progress into this profession which put a stop to it).

The DistanceLearningCentre.com site was recommended to me by the Birmingham university who informed me that they had a few students attend the university from this qualification. I phoned DistanceLearningCentre.com for information and was enrolled by the end of the day.

The course was a lot harder then I thought it would be and I did struggle when it came to the level three essays. I had to read the materials over again to understand them all but I found it helped a lot when I kept going over them.

With a lot of help from my tutor I was able to get my work up to standard and felt a lot better at that point. Tutors were always available if I needed help and student services where always available if I had any other questions about the courses.

I have recommended this course to so many friends and members of my family as well as the other courses on this site as I was very happy with DistanceLearningCentre.com and their staff and qualifications.

On my interview day to my chosen universities I was told that they were happy with this qualification as it was more suited to their course then a normal access course so I have had no regret with doing this course and thought it was money well spent and hopefully I will be able to complete my university course more easily with all the help I received from this course.

Thank you to all the members of staff who helped me throughout this course and who answered my emails promptly, without their help I would not be at university level. You have all been a great help throughout.

Sharon Worgan

After making the decision in September 2013 that I needed a change of career, I came across DistanceLearningCentre.com and their excellent range of access courses. I chose to do Access to Health as completing it would give me sufficient qualifications to apply for the nursing degree course I wanted to do.

Now don't start applying thinking this will be a breeze. You need to be self motivated, and disciplined. You have to make time to studying and complete the coursework which isn't easy if you have a family and work full time, but it is achievable. I have four young children and a full time job yet managed to complete the course before the June moderation and achieved 45 level 3 credits at distinction! The tutors are fantastic and on hand to answer any queries about the course work which is really useful when you're taking on a subject that is out of your comfort zone.

I wouldn't hesitate in recommending DistanceLearningCentre.com, completing this course feels like a massive achievement and has boosted my confidence so much. I was so scared I was too old to learn new things when I first started the course but now I ready to start University next March to do a degree in adult nursing and I can't wait.

Put in the work, listen to your tutors and you'll not regret a thing - Follow your dreams.

Jan 2017 update: - Sharon is starting her third year of a nursing degree and is "having the most amazing time at university".

She recently spent time on an international placement in Rwanda where she was one of three students who went out to do research on infection rates, 'information share' in the local polytechnic and develop a sepsis screening tool based on the QSOFA theory for use in the hospital. Their work was well received and the hospital now uses the tool on many of their wards with a possibility of them using the tool in 12 local health centres.

After a placement in Rwanda this summer, she has her heart set on a career in A&E and maybe going on to do her advanced practitioner course.