A grateful mum has paid tribute to the college which she says has turned her son’s life round.
Polly Ferguson has praised Coleg Harlech after she said it turned her son, Arthur, from Bart Simpson into BA material with a place at Cardiff University this September.
Arthur Ferguson-Thorne, 21, received one of the college’s top awards, the Thomas Jones Award for Excellence in Social Studies as well as a Foundation Certificate at Coleg Harlech’s graduation ceremony.
Proud Polly, from Canton, in Cardiff, was there to see her son being presented with the award and she said: “He left school at 16 with almost no qualifications after modelling himself on Bart Simpson – he did well as Bart Simpson but didn’t get many GCSEs.
“He has been working with people with learning disabilities but found there were no real career opportunities unless he got some qualifications so he enrolled here at Coleg Harlech and it has transformed his life.
“I’m completely and utterly impressed with the college. The teachers here are human beings who have always been there to support him and it’s because of them that he has earned a place at Cardiff University this September.”
Arthur is to do a BA Honours degree in Mental Health Nursing and he said: “I was bored in employment and had noi prospects in the job I was in but a family member has been to Coleg Harlech and my mum recommended it.
“I’ve loved it here, being in the mountains and the countryside with the chance to get out and about.
“I’d never really engaged with school, been too busy being a teenager, but the tutors have been fantastic here and I’ve matured and had decided I wasn’t going to come here and mess it up again.”
Arthur intends to go on to work with the mentally ill after he graduates and his course tutor at Coleg Harlech, Mark Jenkins, said: “Arthur had messed around in school, he admits it himself, and he was almost hostile to it.
“He had been in a dead end job but when he came here he connected with the place and he could get out in the countryside and he realised his teachers weren’t his enemies and that he enjoyed learning.
“Once he got the spark he has just been up and running and he gained over 80 per cent in his nine-month course from the beginning to the end.”
Coleg Harlech Principal Trefor Owen said: “Coleg Harlech really is a college of second chances, it’s never too late to come here and to get back on the learning trail.
“We provide a wide range of courses and educational opportunities, both here at Harlech and at venues and workplaces across North Wales and North Powys.
“Many of our students go on, like Arthur, to university and there their life experiences make them a valuable part of the student intake and we’re just glad to have been able to help them fulfil themselves.”
For more information about the courses offered by Coleg Harlech contact the Student Admissions Officer, Julie Roberts, by ringing 01766 781900 or emailing [email protected]. You can also log on to: www.harlech.ac.uk
