Name: Mark Jones
Course: Gateway to HE

I enrolled and completed the Warwick Gateway to HE program. I came to CLL with very few qualifications - truth be told I didn't like or do well at school - joining the police service formal qualifications were never a priority. Having served far too many years in the police I was ready for a change, but things had moved on and every job needed as a minimum a degree. Having been out of education for about 25 years I joined the Warwick Gateway programme. This changed my previous negative perception of 'going back to school' and gave me the confidence that I could study at degree level.

After leaving Warwick I applied for several undergraduate degree programs through UCAS which Steven very kindly provided the reference. I attended the University of York and in 2020 graduated with an integrated Masters of Environment in Environmental Economics. This year I studied and completed an MSc in Environmental Assessment & Management at the University of Manchester, and I’m now just about to embark on a new chapter of my educational journey on a fully funded 4-year professional PhD/EngD in Sustainability at the University of Surrey.

None of this would have been possible had it not been for the Warwick Gateway course which gave me the confidence and re-ignited my enjoyment of learning. So a big THANK YOU from me, and I hope many other students get the opportunity of starting new careers by studying the Warwick Gateway course.