Alongside thousands of young people in York receiving their GCSE results yesterday were over 70 adults who studied for GCSE English and maths qualifications. Every one of them has a different story to tell – here are just two.
Maurice
When Maurice left school at 14 he never in a million years thought he would return to learning, and certainly not enjoy it! We sat down with him on results day to find out more.
Sue
Sue returned to learning aged 72, after a successful social work career. She took the foundation GCSE exam (where the highest grade is 5), and was amazed to achieve a grade 4.
She said:
It’s a long road. I took my maths O level when I was 16 many years ago and I really struggled. The teaching wasn’t great and I failed it with the lowest grade which was an H in those days. H for horrible. And it’s always kind of stayed with me. It didn’t hold me back because I was able to go on to do A levels, I went to university and did social sciences, then became a social worker, none of which I would have been able to have done now without my maths.
I later went on to do a master’s in research and then I started to work for the Open University on the social work degree course. Students that came to us had to have maths GCSE, or the equivalent. So I always felt, well, you know, ‘I haven’t got that’. So I thought, ‘when I have time’, and now I’ve retired, I’ve at last had the time to do it.
I had a wonderful teacher in John. It was strange at first. I’ve always had this thing that I’m not very good with numbers, and I was kind of expecting perhaps not to get beyond the first couple of weeks But being in a very small class and with other people who had had similar issues to me with school, it really helped. I felt very much supported by John and by the other students it was a very friendly environment. I began to enjoy it… it was almost like solving a puzzle. The good thing about maths is that there’s often only one answer, unlike some other subjects. I think, although it sounds a bit crazy, I think it has made more confident. I’ve never been a very confident person.
I’m over the moon. I can’t believe it. I’m just so thankful that York Learning and the Council have enabled me to do the course and for the support and wonderful teaching I’ve had.