Single Mum on road to career success
13 April, 2008
A 19-year-old Stapleford woman is set for a successful career in Advertising and Marketing after getting three A’Levels from Castle College, Nottingham, with help from the Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA).She is just one of over 38,000 students from across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire who have accessed EMA since it was introduced in 2004. EMA provides up to £30 a week to help people between 16 and 19 from low income households to continue in learning
And now recent evidence shows EMA have succeeded in increasing the number of young people staying on in learning at 16 and the number of learners achieving qualifications at 19.
Single mum
Single mum-of-one Kimberly Byrne completed her GCSEs at George Spencer. She took a year out to have her son, Kaenan–Lee, now two, but she was keen to return to college to get her A’Levels so she could pursue her dream job in advertising and marketing.
Now studying a foundation degree in business studies and psychology at Derby University, Kimberly found the financial support she received through EMA invaluable.
She said: "When I found out I was pregnant I knew I had to take time out but that was all, just a break. I knew that to have a satisfying job I needed qualifications.
”Money I could access”
"It can obviously be difficult to pay for college, especially with a new baby to look after, but the college told me about the money I could access and the EMA was really helpful. When I first started college I lived in Radford so it took two buses to get there.
The £30 a week helped a lot with bus fare. When I moved closer to college the money was still really helpful for buying books and things.
”Pretty Tough”
"It was pretty tough when I started but it got better, a lot easier. The college was really helpful too, really understanding if I was late or needed to leave early, especially at the beginning when I was still doing night feeds and things.
"Once I’ve done the foundation degree I’m going to be doing an HND in Business and Marketing then I just need to do an extra year to convert the qualification into a degree. It will take the same amount of time as doing a degree but the costs are a lot lower so I won’t finish with so much debt – but I’ll have the same qualification at the end.
“I’d definitely say to anyone that they should go back to college and get the skills to do the job they want. It’s so much easier to do it now than ever before – there’s so much help you can get. I got help for the nursery fees, the EMA grant and lots of support from the college."
By editor@nottinghamng9.co.uk.
