Take for example the Access to Languages course at Stevenson College Edinburgh, which has been running since 1994. Dieca Cumming, the course organiser, tells us why it has been so successful: -

“Access students are usually mature and motivated, but many come with fears about their ability to succeed.  Part of our job is to help them to develop their confidence by providing them with study skills and strategies that will improve the way they approach their learning.  In many cases it is also a question of showing them how they can adapt skills they have acquired in their past life to the new challenge of academic study.

… In all my years running this course I have met a great number of students, all very different people from different walks of life.  I have realized that EVERYBODY is capable of achieving their goals.  Showing them that we believe in them helps them also to believe in themselves. Our job as lecturers and tutors in the course is to help them by providing knowledge, support and guidance on how to get there.  We equip them to be able to tackle the challenge of higher education. The rest is up to them.”

Dieca’s students have gone on to be highly successful in their own right: she can cite secondary school teachers, translators, PhD and Masters students and even one or two further education lecturers who now teach on access courses!

One of Dieca’s former students is James. Previously a mechanic, a stint of traveling convinced him that he was in the wrong job. He joined the Languages course in August 2007, and is currently studying Spanish at The University of Stirling. He wasn’t interested in school as a kid, and blames this in part on his dyslexia, which was only diagnosed as an adult. He believes that he wouldn’t have survived university without the skills learned on the access course: -

“The access course was tough going, but more than adequately prepared us for our future at uni. The emphasis on study skills, like setting a plan for studying and sticking to it, was essential and still is the most important thing we learned from the access course as there is nobody to tell you or remind you that essays are due at university.”

James is now one of our SWAP Student Ambassadors, and does a lot of good work helping us support current access students at the start of their journey.

Over the years many students have gone on to be highly successful at university, and they believe that their time spent on a SWAP Access course helped them survive. We look forward to supporting many more mature students with the help of Stevenson College and our other partners.   Here’s to another 21 years!