“Never give up. Mistakes are the way of learning” says CONEL student Jan Kurt

Level Three Public Services student Jan Kurt switched courses so he could follow his dream of going into policing. 

Although he was very good at Engineering – his original choice, it just wasn’t what he thought it would be.

Thankfully, the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (CONEL) supported him as he transferred onto the Public Services course.

Jan said: “I came to CONEL from secondary school. My first course was engineering but my future aspiration has always been policing; I was even in the Police Cadets when I was younger. I was good at engineering and my lecturers were happy with my work, but I knew it wasn’t for me and I knew that I wanted to do something related to policing, so with guidance and advice from CONEL staff, I started the Public Services course.”

Jan values the fact that CONEL’s Public Services lecturers are, or have been, in the industry – either the military or policing – and have a whole wealth of experience and practical knowledge to pass on to their students.

“Studying Public Services gives you a better understanding of how the world works. You gain so much from the teachers who are all industry professionals. The lecturers’ experiences, what they know and have been through, teaches you so much more. You build such a special bond with your tutors at CONEL.

“One of our units is analysing why terrorist incidents are occurring, what the government are doing and what prevention measures are in place. We go into this in depth, including CCTV and police interceptors. It all helps us to understand why attacks happen and the short and long-term effects are. It’s so interesting.

“I feel much more committed to what I want to do – Policing. My lecturers have made me feel that if you go through the process and you fail there’s always a plan B, but if you don’t go through it, you’ll never know.

“My advice to other students is whatever the situation, whatever the state of your life, sit up straight, look around you. Understand what’s going on around you, what’s going on with yourself. Never give up. Mistakes are the way of learning. You fall down, get back up again and don’t stay down.”

Studying Public Services at CONEL offers more than just a qualification. Students are exposed to events like Pan London, where this year almost 70 CONEL students on our Public Services and Media courses played a key role in the successful running and planning of the event.

Its opportunities like this that helped CONEL gain a 94.6% student satisfaction rating and enabled 86.8% of our Public Services students to pass their exams.

Completing a Public services course at CONEL College could lead you to professions such as:

• Police Officer: Annual Pay £41,600
• Police Community Support Officer: Annual Pay £26,520
• Probation Services Officer: Annual Pay £29,120
• Ambulance Paramedic: Annual Pay £41,080
• Army Soldier: Annual Pay £18,125
• Army Officer: Non-graduate cadets: Annual Pay £26,000
• Merchant Navy Deck Officer: Annual Pay £26,000

The Public Services workforce is projected to grow by 6% over the next five years, creating 1,974,000 jobs.

In the same period, 39.5% of the workforce is projected to retire, creating 13,110,000 job openings.

This is the average combined for all industries across the UK, showing it is a great time to get into the Public Services industry.