Covid-19 prompts return to study

The Covid-19 lockdown has led many people to reconsider their lifestyles and prompted a return to study at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC).

More than 50 people applied for ‘Change Your Path’ bursaries offered by SRUC to new students, aged 25 and over.

The 20 successful applicants are starting an HNC, HND, degree or postgraduate degree course at SRUC’s campuses across Scotland. These include Aberdeen, Ayr, Barony in Dumfries and Galloway, Edinburgh, Elmwood in Fife and Oatridge in West Lothian, as well as the Glasgow Botanic Gardens, which runs Horticulture courses in partnership with SRUC.

The bursaries, worth £1000 for full-time students or £500 for part-time students, aim to ease the transition for those returning to study as mature students.

Hannah D'Mellow, Marketing and Student Recruitment Manager, said: “So many of SRUC’s students have brilliant stories of career change and I’m delighted that we are able to support some of them with this financial assistance.

“I found that many of the applications this year had a Covid-19 theme - not so much that the crisis had prompted a change of employment sector, but more that those moments of pause in lockdown had allowed many people to re-evaluate what they really wanted to be doing in life, and that the applicants had reconnected with the natural world and the passion it inspires in them.

“It was lovely to read so many positive stories of hope and optimism; of future plans intent on making a positive difference to themselves and the world around them. I sincerely wish all those taking a new direction the best of success.”

For more information about studying at SRUC visit: www.sruc.ac.uk

Posted by SRUC on 30/09/2020