Anne-Marie Beattie

Anne-Marie Beattie was forty when she returned to College. With a young family and a career spanning 21 years working in a bank in various roles across the UK she felt a little nervous starting afresh.

She said, “It was a really big decision because I hadn’t studied since school and I’d worked for the bank for so long. But I really wanted to do it. It was reassuring that straight away I met someone who was in a similar situation to myself in the class, a mature learner, and that really helped and made me feel more at ease.”

Studying fulltime whilst juggling the demands of family life was eased by the fact that Anne-Marie was able to secure a place for her two year old son at the on-site NESCol nursery.

“That was comforting knowing he was just round the corner. As my courses was three days a week it meant I could catch up on all my studying on the days I wasn’t in College plus evenings and weekends. With planning it is possible and there was plenty of support from the lecturers.”

The HND in Accountancy was a natural choice for Anne-Marie as she had always enjoyed working with figures.

“Gaining my HND gave me a lot of confidence and I began to believe that I could go to University. I never dreamed for one minute that I would go on to gain a degree – but that’s what I did!”

She added, “One final thing I would like to mention is that I wear hearing aids and have trouble hearing at times. Everyone at the college and university were really supportive and I never felt worried about asking for support at all. “

After successfully gaining her degree she progressed with the Chartered Accountancy qualification whilst working. She is now part qualified and is thinking about the remaining examinations she needs to take when the time is right.

Anne-Marie is currently an Assistant Accountant for a Timber Engineering company with responsibility for all customer invoicing.