Follow the part-time study path

Advice and information on all of the University of Teesside’s part-time courses will be available on Tuesday 10 January. The part-time open day takes place from 12 noon to 7.00pm in the University’s Course Information Centre (in the reception of the University’s Main Tower Block, near the corner of Borough Road and Albert Road, Middlesbrough). Potential students will be then be referred to appropriate academic schools.

Tanya Stirling, Community Learning Officer in the University’s Centre for Lifelong Learning, said: “Advice and information will be available for all part-time courses, be it a Foundation Degree, HND, first degree or postgraduate study. You don’t need to make an appointment. If you can’t make the day, the University has a part-time prospectus which you can order through our website at www.tees.ac.uk.”

For more information call 01642 384279.

Busy mum Vicki McMahon manages to look after two teenage sons and a green grocer husband who works all hours - and she runs three sandwich bars, two in Middlesbrough and another in Northallerton.

But that’s not all! For Vicki is halfway through studying for an English Studies honours degree at the University of Teesside as well!

Vicki, 39, from Swainby, North Yorkshire, admits it is not easy to juggle all the conflicting demands on her time. She does much of the paperwork for her husband’s business and her sandwich bars, which between them have 21 people on the payrolls.

The answer for her was Teesside’s part-time route on the degree. “Studying part-time has made it possible for me to work for the qualification I have always wanted.

“I love books and English, and now regret dropping out of school when I was 17 and in the middle of my A levels. But back then I wanted to start earning money and got a job with Middlesbrough Council.

“Now, twenty years later, I have finally got to University to do the degree I really want to study.

“For me, it wasn’t really an option to give up my job and study full-time for three years. I do most of the paperwork for the businesses and we need the income I generate. It isn’t ‘pin-money’ for us!

“So studying part-time was the only option and I would recommend it to other people who can’t just put their lives on hold for three years and do a full-time degree.

“Yes, there are times when you are halfway through an essay and think ‘I should really be cooking the family a big meal’. But the boys and my husband have been great. I think they are all very proud of me,” says Vicki, who is halfway through the six year part-time course.

“I have made some great friends and what I really like is being able to talk about books and writers with other people who have similar interests. It is also great to hear the views of the younger ones on the modules we share with the full-time students.

“The key thing I would say is find a subject you are really, really interested in and plan how you are going to fit everything. I pop into the University about two or three times a week to attend lectures and seminars and use the Learning Resource Centre. I’m lucky as my husband works in the town, so I can also pop in and see him.”

She says among the advantages of being a mature student is that she can help her oldest son, Denis, with the construction of his essay work for his GCSEs and keep her mind active and alert to new developments in English literature.

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