Student of the Year Andy is one step closer to his teaching dream

Andy Acheampong is one step closer to his dream of becoming a teacher after completing his Access to Higher Education Diploma in Teaching Professions with UCEN Manchester.

After sitting his maths and English GCSEs at The Manchester College, the 46-year-old was introduced to the Access to HE course by Director of Curriculum, Michelle Tocher.

So now that this stage of his journey is over, how does he reflect on it?

“It was an exciting journey where I met a lot of wonderful and dedicated tutors who have helped shape my life,” he said.

I am very grateful to have been part of this wonderful community of learners. I had a lot of exciting moments, but my highlight was becoming a peer mentor.

“Many thanks to Michelle especially for going the extra mile to support me. I will always be indebted to her.”

On top of passing his course with the highest possible grade profile, Andy was named ‘Access to HE Student of the Year’ at the UCEN Manchester Student Awards in June (pictured above)!

In nominating Andy for the award, Michelle said:

If I could bottle Andy’s spirit I would! Andy is respectful, considerate and represents the ethos of an Access to HE student excellently.  

“He is always willing to help others by mentoring his peers and taking on the Class Representative role.”

Feeling “satisfied and confident” upon winning the award and completing his course with UCEN Manchester, Andy will be studying a BA (Hons) in Primary Education with QTS from September. 

He added: “I will 100% recommend UCEN Manchester to those who want to further their education. In fact, I have already started recommending it to others.”

Find out more about Access to HE courses at UCEN Manchester and how to apply.