Case Studies
Dawn Stoddard
learndirect learner Dawn Stoddard, is awarded an MBE for services to further education
Maria Marshall boosted her confidence
Maria Marshall, 47, from Andover in Hampshire has really improved her confidence thanks to her learning. Before coming to learndirect, she was working at Blockbuster but after difficulties with her husband she suffered a breakdown and was signed off work.
Amanda Cowan
Amanda Cowan’s life has changed dramatically over the last few months. She has gone from being a single mum relying on benefits to securing a job as a learning centre assistant. The 43-year old mother of two teenagers, from Catford in South East London, is an inspiration to anyone who has been afraid to make any life changes because of a lack of confidence.
Marrie Bellingy
Marrie Bellingy, 32, is a Naval chef from St. Vincent whose first language is Creole. Having worked as a barmaid in St. Vincent before coming to the UK, she found communicating with her colleagues in the Naval kitchens difficult.
Lloyd Briggs success story
Lloyd Briggs, 25, from Newcastle, has found himself thousands of pounds better off after securing his dream job thanks to the skills and qualifications he gained through learndirect.
Richard Slater
Richard Slater, 56, from Halesowen, was a plumber by trade but decided at the age of 54 to re-train to be a nurse. After discovering he'd need a Level 2 maths qualification he enrolled to learn online with learndirect. With his nationally recognised qualification he's an important step closer to his dream job.
Tracey White
A busy mum with three daughters, Tracey White got her confidence back, a qualification and started planning for the future with learndirect.
Kathryn Wood
Kathryn Wood, 18, from Yeovil, wasn't happy at school, and keen to get into the job market she decided to start an apprenticeship in Business Administration with learndirect.
Steve Birch
After achieving his English Level 2 qualification in June 2010 and his maths Level 2 by October, Steve then did an ITQ. He decided to convert his military forklift skills into a civilian qualification. learndirect helped Steve complete his practical training at the army learning centre in Preston while he did an NVQ in Plant Operations.
Margaret Rose
When Margaret Rose, 56 from Barnstaple, developed a tumour and needed a major operation, she knew that it would be the end of her career as a cleaner. She had been a cleaner for most of her adult life, and had recently started her own business cleaning holiday lets when she became ill. Having never passed an exam at school, Margaret had a low self esteem and became depressed as she felt that she didn't know how to do anything. She said that learndirect has helped her turn her life around.
Ian Chambers
When Ian Chambers left his job as administrative position at a mail order company to work closer to home, he realised his computer skills needed to be updated. Although Ian had used a computer in his role, he used an in-house system and lacked practical experience using office computer packages that other companies demanded.
Stephen Bunting
Stephen decided to return to study and signed up to learndirect in order to gain the skills he needed to improve his job prospects.
Samantha Kemp
Samantha Kemp, 41 from Framlingham Earl, Norfolk, has had a number of different job roles, including riding instructor, stationary sales representative, pet-sitter, PA and a customer services assistant. However, after the sudden death of her father, Samantha suffered from depression. She then discovered that a lack of formal qualifications was stopping her from finding new employment. Samantha signed up to learndirect so that she could get the qualifications she needed to help her find a new job.
Becky Daniels
Daniels, 28 from Newcastle upon Tyne, had always wanted to become a nurse. After leaving school with no formal qualifications however, and having a family at a young age, she did not have the necessary qualifications to apply for university. Despite this setback, Becky remained determined to find her dream job, so she signed up with learndirect.
Susan MacGregor
Susan MacGregor, 39 from Berwick-upon-Tweed, is a single mum of two. Working part-time in a sun-tanning shop, she decided that she wanted to improve her career prospects and gain some formal qualifications. After hearing about learndirect from a friend, Susan decided to sign up to learndirect courses in English and IT to work towards obtaining a new job.
Sharon Hallas
Sharon Hallas, a 33-year-old mother-of-three from Manchester, worked as a dinner lady and events steward before stopping work to look after her children full-time. When her eldest son was at primary school, Sharon found she didn't have the maths skills to help him with things like multiplication and division.
Amy Parry
Amy Parry, 25, is a single parent from Portsmouth. She was advised by her local Jobcentre Plus to enrol on learndirect courses to give both herself and her daughter a better chance in life. She took literacy, numeracy and IT courses and then an NVQ in Business Administration. Thanks to Amy's new skills and qualifications she was able to find herself permanent employment as an administrator.
Angela Lee
Angela believes that the skills she has gained this year with learndirect have improved her employment prospects.
Shazia Afzal
Shazia Afzal, 33 from Luton, is a mother of three children under nine years old. She left school at a young age without completing her GCSEs and moved abroad. When she returned to England and started a family, Shazia decided to go back to learning with learndirect to improve her skills so that she would be able to help her children with their school work.
Vicky Nelson
Vicky has worked tirelessly to identify suitable learning opportunities for employees at Tesco, and was recently recognised for her efforts at the learndirect Achievement Awards.