Graduate Story

Neve, BA (Hons) Childhood: Primary Education with QTS

At 18, the idea of going to university seemed too big for me to comprehend. Feeling nervous about moving away from my loved ones, I decided to take a different course. This led me to join the working world, earlier than I expected.  

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, it was the first time in four years that I had the opportunity to think about what I wanted to do with my future. I concluded that I wanted to expand my horizons and start a journey on a new path. This was where my spark for going to university was reborn once again.  

In researching courses, I sought a university close to home, knowing I would not want to leave my family. And that was also on education, knowing that teaching had always been a career I had dreamed of pursuing. When I found out that UoS had a teaching course I was ecstatic, knowing I could pursue my passion and keep my family close.  

When the course finally began, I was nervous as to how I would find it, having been out of education for some time. But I can safely say UoS were so supportive of me, wanting me to achieve and succeed. After a few months, I found the swing of things and was achieved in all areas of my university career.  

As the course progressed into the second year, the complexity level of the work increased. However, I felt prepared for this, after how well the teaching was broken down in our first year.  Being one of the QTS students on the course, the amount of work is increased slightly from the rest of the cohort. However, the university has been very supportive in accommodating this, allowing us study time to keep on top of our QTS (placement work) and degree work.  

I now have one year left to go, where I will hopefully come out with a degree and qualified teacher status. Therefore, I would advise anyone considering going to university later in life that it’s never too late to change your chosen path. Life is for making mistakes and having new experiences; UoS offers all of this.