Bury College Health and Social student plans to use success to empower people with learning difficulties

A Bury College student has achieved two A*s in Health and Social Care after overcoming numerous challenges throughout her education.

Hanna Warters, 19, earned the grades in addition to passing her GCSEs in Maths and English Language.

The former St Monica’s RC High School pupil is going on to study for a degree in Learning Disability Nursing and Social Work at the University of Salford.

Hanna hopes to inspire people with learning difficulties as she has autism and ADHD.

She said: “The Special Educational Needs (SEN) team at Bury College are fantastic, and they helped me massively. At first, I was very nervous but felt confident enough to ask for help. I was also encouraged to do things on my own. This built my resilience.”

Hanna plans to become a registered nurse and social worker after she completes her degree.

She has already started looking to the future, she said: “I’d like to work with people with disabilities. I want to make a difference in people's lives, making sure they get the best care and also that they’re not discriminated against. I want to empower them to have better lives."

Hanna worked through the pandemic on a vaccination programme and with BIG, the mental health charity, making phone calls to isolated people over lockdown and supporting them.

She said: “I was a patient advocate, and as part of that I had to do paperwork, effective practice and other things. That is everything you have to do when working as a nurse so I can go into work with experience and confidence.”

Bury College is incredibly proud of all its students who have continued to adapt and progress, both academically and personally through challenging times in order to achieve their exceptional results. If you’d like to read more about success this academic year, click here: https://burycollege.ac.uk/news/resultsday2022