Case Studies

“I still can't quite believe I won!” ~~ Kelly Osborne, a Grwp Llandrillo Menai - Coleg Meirion Dwyfor, student has been awarded this year’s Agored Cymru Learner of the Year Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement as well as the national Keith Fletcher award in the same category!

Kelly didn’t always know what she wanted to do when she left school - after a few years travelling the world, time living in Fiji, Kelly eventually returned to the UK to work as a teaching assistant in a primary school then moved on to teaching adults first aid for the British Red Cross.

The following years saw Kelly working for several different charities but she missed working in education and meeting different people.

“I moved to North Wales in 2017 to work in outdoor education and spent the next few years taking children to do adventurous activities such as mountain walking, rock climbing, kayaking etc and teaching snippets of geography, biology etc out in the field.”

Sadly, when the Covid pandemic hit in 2020 Kelly lost her job, and with commitments to manage it was vital that Kelly found work she so desperately needed.

“I picked up several part time jobs over the year. I worked as a cleaner on a building site, a maker in a pottery studio, a vaccinator on the Covid vaccination programme, a healthcare assistant in the hospital, and made and sold my own crafts as a little side business.”

Surprisingly for Kelly she found herself enjoying working in healthcare during this time, particularly vaccinating and working within the community setting, visiting patients at home. That is where her journey to pursue a career in healthcare began!

“Public health and women's health in particular was an interest that I discovered during my time in Fiji and despite not having any children myself, I have always found pregnancy to be fascinating and felt myself being drawn towards Midwifery. When I researched how to become a midwife and found out that I would need to do a degree I immediately dismissed the idea due to not being in a position financially to start a full time 3 year degree. I also had a feeling that I had little chance of getting a place on the course as I had been out of education for almost 10 years at that point and the entry requirements asked for a recent qualification.”

However, the thought and ambition niggled in the back of Kelly’s mind for months and she eventually decided to enrol onto the Access to Higher Education course, which meant Kelly could still work alongside her studying and see how things progressed.

“I absolutely loved the Access course and it gave me such a renewed passion for learning, it was definitely one of the best things I had done in a while! The class was full of interesting people of all ages with lots of different life experiences and it was a really lovely supportive atmosphere to learn in.”

“The opportunity to study and socialise bilingually on the Access course has really helped me to progress with my Welsh learning and I have gained confidence in using some Welsh with my patients.”

Kelly continued to work alongside studying which proved challenging to manage her time but she was committed to completing the course and succeeding.

“I really enjoyed the academic aspect of the Access course and I feel that it really helped me to get my head back into academic writing and presentations. I applied to study a degree in Midwifery at Bangor University and received my offer in May 2022 - the course is really over-subscribed so I had really not expected to get a place, so obviously I was delighted!”

Kelly is now 2/3 of the way through her first year as a Midwifery student and is absolutely loving it and excited for the future.

“The Access course prepared me well for the degree and I am very glad I chose to do it. Without the opportunity and support offered by the tutors (and of course the endless support of my wonderful partner and family) I doubt that I would have ever enrolled in university and been able to pursue the career that I feel so passionately about.”

Talking of Kelly’s success, her Access tutor Maia Jones : “Kelly produced consistent work which merits award of outstanding academic achievement. All of Kelly’s units across the diploma were of distinction level. She excelled in her role as class representative and has been back this academic year to offer words of advice to the new academic year and share her experiences of her successful application to study midwifery.”

Here’s what the judge of the national Keith Fletcher Awards had to say about Kelly’s achievements : “Fantastic standard of work and display of academic skills. The nomination highlighting their role as class representative and returning to offer words of advice will serve as an inspiration.”

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Congratulations once again to Kelly Osborne for her hard work during her studies. Agored Cymru recognises your drive and dedication and is thrilled to have been able to play a part in your journey into your desired career. We wish you the best of luck and success in your future.

Agored Cymru develops, approves and monitors Access to Higher Education Diplomas

We work with centres to offer a wide range of Access to HE Diplomas from Bioscience to Social Care.

Go here to see the full list of Agored Cymru Access to Higher Education Diplomas.

We are a licensed Access Validating Agency and are regulated by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA).