A big warm WELCOME to our new students. After a summer of hard work and planning, we get to introduce a new group of adult learners who are ready to take on the challenge of university study to the Centre – and this year is (hardly!) any different. We hope they become a community of adult learners and can’t wait to see them graduate with their families by their sides in a few years’ time.

In Centre for Lifelong Learning Welcome Week is always an exciting time. We will still be meeting our new cohort, taking them on tours of the University, inducting them into using the Library, IT, and Careers Services, and making all the important steps towards building an active and engaged learning community but for the first time it will all be done virtually.

Although we will miss the hustle and bustle of a busy campus, our students will still get the same experience, being able to chat with academic and support teams as well as meet each other. Our cohort will even get the chance to connect with mature students from other departments in the Students’ Union mature student virtual meet and greet, along with being able to get involved with  online club nights and test out their brain power in the virtual escape rooms.

To ensure our new cohort feel ready to join us in three weeks’ time, we are holding online Q&A panels where staff from the Centre will be available to answer questions, explain how the first few weeks of term may look, and give insider insights into how to be a successful student.

Welcome Week, on the face of it, might not be quite the same as usual but we are confident it will be a great welcome to our new cohort and will equip them to become confident and talented Warwick students. 

The National Student Survey (NSS) is an opportunity for our finalist students to feedback to the Centre and the University on their experiences, opinions, and thoughts about the learning, teaching, and social experience of the undergraduate courses. As a very student focused department, we take the NSS results seriously and this feedback is used to shape our courses going forward.

We are extremely proud to announce that our Foundation Degree in Early Childhood has received 100% overall satisfaction once again. The course also achieved 100% satisfaction in a number of other areas, including:

• The course is intellectually stimulating
• My course has challenged me to achieve my best work
• My course has provided me with opportunities to explore ideas or concepts in depth
• I have been able to contact staff when I needed to
• The timetable works for me

All surveyed academic areas of the course received 90+% satisfaction.

Our 2+2 Social Studies degree increased in satisfaction, achieving 84% overall satisfaction, the highest result in three years. Notably, the course scored highly on "I feel part of a community of staff and students" highlighting the importance of student input to Centre courses.

The Centre has achieved an overall satisfaction of 87.5%, a significant increase on last year and putting us above the University average. Students continue to state that the teaching, learning opportunities and academic support exceed their expectations.

We are delighted that our NSS results for 2020 reflect a strong student satisfaction across all of our undergraduate courses. These results could not be achieved without the dedication of strong teaching and administrational team along with enthusiastic and passionate students who continually strive for excellence within their studies and university experience.

In the spirit of Adult Learners' Week 2020, we'd like to showcase some of our students who have returned to study.

• Jules Sparkle, student on the BA in Social Studies [2+2 degree pathway], applied for the degree after she was unsuccessful in a job application for not having a degree. Jules is now nearing the end of her time as a student at CLL and will be going onto further study at the University of East London. Read Jules' story here: https://warwick.ac.uk/study/cll/yourwarwick/studentstories/jules/
• Alana Wileman, student on the Foundation degree in Early Childhood, was always passionate about working with young children. Alana gave up her job in retail to work as a teaching assistant at her sons' school and then attended an open evening to find out more about the Early Childhood course and here she is now two years into the course. Read Alana's story here: https://warwick.ac.uk/study/cll/yourwarwick/studentstories/alana/
• Karen Burns, Full-time Social Studies student who had always thought of returning to study but found a reason to put it off. This all changed when an advert for our Gateway to HE course popped up on her Facebook. Now not only has she completed Gateway, she is coming to the end of her second year. Read Karen's story here: https://warwick.ac.uk/study/cll/yourwarwick/studentstories/karen/
• Clare Holland, student on the Career Development and Coaching Studies course, rekindled a desire to return to higher education when her teenage children were applying to university. It presented an opportunity for her to consolidate her personal development and guidance experience with a specific vocational qualification. Read Clare's story here: https://warwick.ac.uk/study/cll/yourwarwick/studentstories/clareh/
• Jim McGeoghegan, Teaching Fellow at CLL, began his CLL journey years ago when he studied the BA in Social Studies [ 2+2 degree pathway]. Now not only is he teaching on the Social Work programme here at CLL but his son is also a student on our Gateway to He course. Read about Jim's journey here: https://warwick.ac.uk/study/cll/yourwarwick/studentstories/jim/

Clare's paper was recently accepted for publication by The Early Childhood Studies Degree Network (ECSDN). Clare was nevous to submit the paper but said she received a lot of support from Warwick. You can read our interview with her here.

Huge congratulations to Clare from all of the team at Centre for Lifelong Learning!