How our Access to Higher Education course prepares you for further learning

Our Access to Higher Education: Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions Pathway has been great for helping learners start their journey to a rewarding career in the health profession.

Our recent Ofsted report praised the course saying that students "are very well prepared for future learning at university." This is something that is supported by many of our current and former students.

Nicola Brown credited her Access to Nursing, Midwifery and Health course for helping her develop a passion for a new subject area.

She said: “The best decision I made was leaving full-time employment and returning to college as a mature student at Bury College. I completed my Access course with straight distinctions, which I could not have done without the support and guidance of my tutors.  With their knowledge, experience, professionalism and understanding, I found a new love for learning and understanding for subjects that I never thought I had.”

Nicola is now at Salford University and you can read more about her journey here.

This was a view supported by Kelly Doran, she added: "Completing an Access course changed my life. It allowed me to go to university and work towards the career I’d always dreamed of.”

Kelly had overcome a tragic loss to succeed on her course and was recently rewarded for her outstanding commitment to study by winning the Keith Fletcher Access to HE Memorial Prize.

Like Nicola and Kelly, Merhawi Gaim also has aspirations of becoming a Nurse. He added: “Thanks to this course, I can progress onto an Adult Nursing course at university.”

Holly Atkinson is now further on in her career and back in November, she returned to Bury College to inspire our current Access students. After leaving Bury College, Holly went on to the University of Huddersfield to study Midwifery, where she also thrived and eventually became a qualified Midwife.

At the time of her visit, Holly said: “I enjoyed being able to visit the aspiring midwives at Bury College, I am so proud of myself for achieving what I have so far, and it was a pleasure being able to share my knowledge and experiences with the students. I have been through all the challenges they have to come and understand how hard the process is, I wanted to reassure them that everything is worth it in the end. I enjoyed my time at Bury College with the Access course preparing me academically for the transition to university.”

If you’ve been inspired by all of these success stories and want to get back into education, check out our range of Access courses.