Teesside is TOPs for mature students

You're never too old to learn - that's the message that the University of Teesside will be delivering at two special information sessions for mature students in September.

The Twenty-One Plus (TOPs) events are for mature students who will be starting a course at the University of Teesside this year. Guests will be able to meet university staff, talk to students on the same course and find out about the range of facilities on-campus and the Students’ Union. Current mature students will be delivering the campus tours and will able to give a ‘first-hand’ account of life as a mature student at Teesside.

Both TOP’s sessions will be held on Thursday 22 September. Future full-time students can find out about the University from 9.15am – 5.00pm, while the part-time TOP session will be held from 5.30pm – 8.00pm. If you have any questions you would like to ask before attending university this is the event for you!

To find out more or to book a place call 01642 384277, email: courseinfo@tees.ac.uk or visit www.tees.ac.uk.

One person who knows all about the value of returning to education is Martin Burns.

Martin, 41, from Middlesbrough, spent 20 years in a variety of different jobs, before joining the University of Teesside’s BSc (Hons) Forensic Investigation and Consumer Law degree. He is now working as a Trainee Trading Standards Officer at South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council.

He said: “I was a bit nervous when I first went to university, but everyone was really friendly and I soon settled in. I knew that after three years I would be able to support the family better and that kept me motivated.

“In my second and third years I was sponsored by South Tyneside Trading Standards with a paid work experience placement and the offer of a training position when I completed the course, which was a great relief. We were very well prepared on the course and we had access to all the right equipment.

“I’ve still got some professional qualifications to earn, but I’m confident that I’ll be a fully qualified Trading Standards Officer in a year or so. Now that I’m working again, it’s a great feeling to be bringing in a good salary that will keep growing. The future’s bright and it was worth all the hard work at university.

“I didn’t like school and like most kids you think you know it all anyway and you don’t really understand what an impact a good education has on your future plans until you’re older. I never thought for one minute I would have a degree - I thought it was beyond me but it just goes to show what you can do if you really try. It’s changed my life.”

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