Lifelong Learners are making the grade

Oldham Council’s outstanding Lifelong Learning Service has marked the success of its students.

A celebration event was held at Oldham Lifelong Learning Centre for a group of learners who have completed their English and Maths GCSEs.

The latest cohort decided to return to learning for a wide range of reasons.

Councillor Shaid Mushtaq, Cabinet Member for Employment and Skills, said: “We’d like to congratulate these learners on receiving their GCSE English and maths certificates and also extend that to the Lifelong Learning team and tutors for all their hard work.

“We’re sure the results will lead on to more positive outcomes in the learners’ lives and I’d encourage our adults to follow suit given the importance of these subjects to employers.

“An added bonus is these programmes are free.

"So, whether it’s for a sense of achievement, looking for a change of career, personal or professional development or improving your chances of finding employment we’d encourage to get in touch and find out more.

“It’s never too late to return to learning.”

Learner Melissa McDermott is one of the successful students.

She originally failed her GCSEs, but after deciding she wanted to become a teacher, Melissa was told she would need the qualifications.

After passing her Functional Skills she moved onto her GCSEs so she could be nearer her dream of teaching.

Melissa said: “These new exams were honestly much harder than those I sat at school but my frame of mind was much better.

"The classes allowed more one to one time, the tutors genuinely cared about the progress each of us made and they did everything they could to help.

“I still want to teach, but now I want to teach English to adults and help more people like me to reach their goals.”

The Council's Lifelong Learning Service runs a wide range of subjects, programmes, qualifications, levels and short courses that are available for residents aged 19 and above.

They can help improve confidence, support health and well-being or provide opportunities to develop a new skill or interest.

The service enrols around 4,200 learners each year and has an overall qualification achievement rate of 95.5-per-cent, with 98-per-cent of learners saying they are likely to recommend it.

OLLS was graded as 'Outstanding' in its last Ofsted report.

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