Alan Phillips

Alan was ready for a career change so combined working full-time with studying to reach his goal of become a teacher. He started at the College studying Level 3 Award in Education and Training and progressed to Level 4.

He described his time at Sunderland College as enjoyable, fun and friendly.

He said:

“I decided to study at Sunderland College as I was looking to change my career and enter into teaching. I looked at a range of different colleges and Sunderland College had the answers to my questions, so I applied and was invited to an interview where I enrolled onto the Level 3 course.

The layout of Washington campus lends itself to discussions. The seating area and cafeteria make it easy to sit down and have a chat over a coffee, or a study group to discuss assignments. The relaxed atmosphere helps this to happen.

The best thing about the course was the enthusiasm of our lecturer. The whole class became friends through the activities our lecturer set, the discussion points that were opened up during lessons. This meant that most of the class progressed onto the next level.

The staff are friendly and the whole atmosphere in the college is relaxed. I feel that there is an ethos of ‘the learner comes first’ so if there is a learning need, the College will strive to oblige.

I can highly recommend the courses I studied at Sunderland College. Although they are not easy – and they shouldn’t be – they were enjoyable, the learning was fun and I gained a great deal of satisfaction from the learning.”

Alan has progressed onto Level 5 Professional Certificate in Post Compulsory Education and Training at the University of Sunderland to make his dream career a reality.