Success Stories
From Machinist to Marine Biologist
Dawn Smith left school at sixteen with several CSEs but little idea of what she wanted to do next. For the next few years she drifted from one low paid, low skilled job to another – in sewing factories, call centres, warehouses, shops, pubs and clubs – until she started to realise how much life was passing her by.
Dawn plucked up the courage to enrol on an evening class 
and, finding how much she enjoyed it, this led to other short courses until eventually a friend told her about the Access to Higher Education Diploma course at Northern College. The Diploma is designed as a modular course which gives learners returning to formal learning a broad range of subjects and course units from which to choose.
Learners receive credits for their coursework which build up to the Diploma level. Dawn’s original intention was to study for the Diploma as a route into social work, but while at Northern College she changed her mind. Dawn had always been fascinated by the sea and the organisms living in and around it, and she loved watching documentaries about the sea on TV.
Following Her Dream
Encouraged by her Diploma success and with support from her tutors, she decided to follow her dream and applied for a place on the degree course in Coastal Marine Biology at the University of Hull, Scarborough campus. Dawn had a nine year old daughter so she couldn’t live on campus and was forced to commute to Scarborough almost every day. When Dawn graduated with a BSc honours degree three years later all the travelling was forgotten. Her life has changed considerably. She now lives in Scarborough and works as a marine biologist at the Scarborough Sea Life Centre – and it’s all as a result of enrolling on the Access to Higher Education Diploma at Northern College.