How Burnley College helped one retail worker become a future midwife

Today, the 23-year-old is preparing to begin a midwifery degree - and she puts that life change down to a single course at Burnley College.

Victoria credits the Access to Higher Education: Health Professions Level 3 course with giving her the confidence, academic skills and self-belief to take the leap and transform her future.

For many adults, returning to study can feel daunting. Past barriers, busy lives and financial worries often stand in the way. Access to Higher Education courses are designed to remove those obstacles, offering a supportive bridge into degree-level learning for people who are ready to change direction. More than a qualification, completing an Access course marks a genuine turning point, a moment when ambition becomes possible.

Victoria, who grew up in Burnley, enrolled after deciding she wanted a more meaningful, people-focused career. With family connections to midwifery and inspired by a close friend who had a similar journey, she took a leap that many adult learners recognise: choosing to chase a long-held dream. The course gave her a structured, achievable pathway into higher education, and she has now secured her place on a midwifery degree.

The breadth of knowledge she gained quickly proved its worth:

"I had no scientific background at all, so learning about genomics - chromosomes and DNA - was something I never expected to understand. The way it was taught made it click. When I got to university and those topics came up in a clinical context, I already had a solid foundation. It genuinely gave me a head start."

Balancing study with work mattered too, and the course was built to make that possible.

"I couldn't afford to give up work completely, so the fact that the course fitted around my shifts was so important. It meant I could keep earning while I studied and didn't have to choose between my finances and my future."

The encouragement of others helped Victoria believe in herself.

"A close friend of mine had done a similar course and gone on to university, and seeing her do it made me think - if she can, why can't I? Being an adult learner actually made me more driven. I knew exactly why I was there and what I wanted from it. I wasn't just drifting through - I had a real purpose, and that pushed me to work harder than I ever had before."

She also found the workload prepared her well for the demands ahead.

"The assignments were challenging but never overwhelming. They built up gradually, which meant I was developing my academic skills without feeling buried. By the time I started my degree, I was used to juggling deadlines, writing at that level and thinking critically - the pace of university didn't come as a shock because the Access course had already prepared me for it."

Small class sizes and direct tutor support gave her room to grow in confidence.

"The class sizes were small enough that you never felt like just a face in a crowd. If I was struggling with something, I could get one-to-one time with my tutor without having to wait or feel embarrassed asking. That flexibility - being able to get support when I needed it, in a way that worked for me - made a real difference to how I learned and how confident I felt going into my degree."

Nina Parkin, Vice Principal at Burnley College, sees stories like Victoria's every year:

"Victoria's story is a powerful reminder of what adult learners can achieve when they are given the right support and the right environment. Access to Higher Education courses exist precisely for people like Victoria - individuals who have the ambition and the ability, but perhaps haven't had the opportunity to pursue it until now.

“Seeing our learners go on to secure places on degree programmes in healthcare is exactly what these courses are designed to do, and Victoria should be incredibly proud of everything she has accomplished."

Access to Higher Education courses are available in a range of different subjects including Computing, Applied Health Sciences, Art & Design, Health Professions, Primary Teaching, Social Science and Psychosocial Studies.

Access courses help learners be positive, be skilled and be ready for the next step, whatever their starting point. By rebuilding confidence, sharpening academic skills and overcoming long-standing barriers to education, they give adults the tools to thrive at university and beyond.

Applications for Access to Higher Education courses at Burnley College are open now for September starts. To find out more or to apply, visit www.burnley.ac.uk/adult-home/