Grantham Journal column: Education is not the sole preserve of the young

By Jaz Abeysekera, Marketing manager at Grantham College

When we think of education, we automatically think about young people going to primary school, secondary school, college, sixth form or university but we are all involved in lifelong learning. We are all learning in a range of environments; at home, at work, through leisure activities and some of us, at educational institutes or through online courses.

It is proven that learning and educating ourselves later in life improves wellbeing, boosts confidence, leads to positive outcomes in health and socially positive attitudes and behaviours. It keeps our minds active and the

obvious benefit is expanding our knowledge.

It is also proven that adults who are learning positively influences the educational achievements in their

children. As adults, it is often that we are choosing to learn something new which helps absorb the information we are receiving because we want to learn more about the subject of interest.

As a young person, you are learning new things because it is compulsory to be in

education – the subjects that are being learnt may not

necessarily be of interest.

There are courses on offer that are designed to get you back in education as an adult which then lead on to higher level courses. The Access to Higher Education course at Grantham College is really popular among adults as its sole purpose is to go through things that you may have

already learnt but it refreshes your knowledge and prepares you for a higher course such as a degree. The majority of students that are enrolled onto this course go on to university and manage to get their first choice.

While working at

Grantham College, I have seen many adult learners who have returned to education after having children, for a career change or simply to learn something new. It’s a hard step to take sometimes; especially being surrounded by people that can be much younger, but they generally do so well because they want to be there and want to better their lives and/or careers. Generally, the consensus seems to be that they are glad they were brave enough to go back into education and that it has improved their prospects.

So, whether you’re thinking of going back into education to improve your career prospects, for a career change or simply for some ‘me-time’, be brave and take the step! It will be worth it and I’m sure it will be a decision that you won’t regret.