Callum turns his Passion into a Career

Following completion of his GCSE’s at Cottenham Village College, Callum Hughes progressed to Long Road Sixth Form College to complete his A-levels. Unfortunately, his results didn’t leave much option for university, so Callum decided to take a break from education to explore alternative career paths and it was this time away that gave him the space needed to properly consider what he was passionate about and what he wanted from a career.

At the age of 23, having realised his passion for computer science, Callum felt that there was a something worth going back to education for and enrolled on to the Access to Science course with Cambridge Regional College.

Callum said, “The course at CRC was perfect for my circumstances. The college had a good reputation, it was in a good location for me, and the one-year study programme put me on the right path to progress to university. The open day was useful in introducing me to the environment and tutors, so I knew exactly what to expect upon starting my studies.”

Callum opted to study Maths, Physics and Chemistry and recalls the excellent facilities, and friendly tutors and peers that contributed to the enjoyment of his time at college, “CRC had excellent facilities to accommodate the course, including labs and equipment for scientific experiments, library resources, computers/ study areas, I even remember being able to get a huge poster printed on site. There were also study areas just for Access students, which were excellent for collaboration work.”

Upon completion of his Access course, Callum progressed to Cardiff University where he graduated with first-class honours in Computer Science and he has since gone on to secure a position as a Software Engineer. Callum attributes his success to the solid foundation gained during his time at CRC.

Callum concluded, “Whilst studying at University I often thought back to my experiences at CRC and felt they had really prepared me well for teh next step. The course was quite intensive, so it was helpful for me to have a career goal in mind to keep me focussed. On reflection, the pace and structure of each term was very similar to that of the degree course, so it was helpful to have experienced that ahead of university. I would absolutely recommend the Access to Science course and I am immensely grateful for the second chance it provided me within education”

“Have confidence in yourself, your goals are within reach. At a time when I particularly felt things weren’t going well on the course, I remember my tutor, Ursula, saying to me, ‘It’s never too late to turn things around’, and it was absolutely true.”