Laura Walker-Broome

My favourite part of my role is helping students take the first step towards fulfilling their ambitions to go to university and, eventually, progress into their dream careers.  Students often say that returning to education has given them more confidence in themselves, which makes me feel extremely proud.

Laura started her role as a tutor in Social Sciences  on the Access to HE Diploma at Lancaster & Morecambe College in 2015 while doing her teaching placement in the Access department as part of her PGCE teacher training course. Prior to retraining to become a tutor, Laura worked in the Learning Support team also at LMC for two years as a Learning Support Assistant whilst completing her PhD in Psychology at Lancaster University.

The Access to HE Diploma is an adult alternative to A Levels for amibitious adults who aspire to progress to university. Laura's specialist subject within the Access team is Psychology, this is a subject that she throughally enjoys and is qualified up to PhD level.

I am responsible for teaching the Psychology, Social Issues in Healthcare and Study Skills units on the Access to HE Diploma Level 3, Health and Social Care course. This involves preparing and delivering lessons at Level 3, as well as a lot of marking!  As the students’ course tutor, I am also responsible for assisting them with their UCAS applications and for writing their academic references.    

As many students who choose to apply to the Access to HE course may have taken a break from education due to other commitments, but may have always dreamed of persuing a particular career, Laura talks about her favourite parts of her role:

My favourite part of my role is helping my students take the first step towards fulfilling their ambitions to go to university and, eventually, progressing into their dream careers. Students often say that returning to education has given them more confidence in themselves, which makes me feel extremely proud.

As the students’ course tutor, Laura is responsible for assisting them with their UCAS applications to get into their chosen universities and for writing their academic references, and says  

I regularly liaise with local universities and other external agencies to organise talks and visits related to progression into Higher Education. In addition to Access to HE, I also teach on the Level 2 Certificate in Health and Social Care Professions (Pre-Access) and Level 2 Certificate in Psychology courses!

When asked what she would you say to someone who was thinking about studying the Access to HE Diploma, her reply was;

Go for it!  It’s never too late to pursue your ambitions.