Top Marks at HCT!
Herefordshire College of Technology is celebrating with many of its students who achieved fantastic grades for Level 3 courses - examples being IT and Sport, Performance and Excellence (Football Academy). These celebrations were made all the more special by numerous students achieving the maximum grades of three distinctions. In most cases HCT’s Level 3 courses equate to 3 A levels and are readily accepted by universities and employers alike.
Information Technology (IT) Level 3 Diploma student, Adam Burgoyne, was particularly thrilled with his results as he achieved the highest possible grades in all 18 of the units in his two year course. “I’m really pleased with my results, it’s been great and I have already recommended the course to other people.” Adam explained. “I knew when I left school that A levels weren’t for me because I knew what I wanted to do and that this course would enable me to do it. I’m going to study Computer Science at Cardiff University in September and once I have my degree I would like to travel a bit and see what I want to do next. I want to make sure I have the right qualifications before I do anything else.”
Adam’s fellow classmate Tim Harper, who also achieved three distinctions overall, was keen to outline how the course has made a significant impact on his life direction. “I didn’t achieve very much when I was younger, I couldn’t concentrate so didn’t really get any qualifications. I spent about 10 years working in factories and shops, never really going anywhere. In the end I was unemployed for 6 months and I’d had enough. I remember hearing a government initiative which said, ‘If you can’t get a job, go and retrain.’ So I did.” Tim is now progressing on to Glamorgan University to study a BSc in Forensic Computing and is then going to see what job opportunities are available to him. “I will hopefully have fulfilled my aim of not just finding a job, but finding a career. Further education has given me the opportunity to have a direction, something which I have never had before.”
At HCT’s Holme Lacy Campus, overall maximum grades have also been achieved in a range of courses including Animal Management and Horse Management. One of those students celebrating is Animal Management student, Nyree Taylor, who has now secured employment part time at the Small Breeds Farm Park and Owl Centre in Kington. She explains how her redundancy from her previous position gave her a new opportunity in life, “I really loved the academic side of the course. I didn’t enjoy the administration work I had been doing, so really my redundancy was one of the best things that could have happened to me. After leaving school I think I realised that I didn’t make the most of my chance to study, so I was really ready to be challenged academically.”
