“I’m currently enrolled on A level Business, Biology and Psychology. I decided on these courses as I want to go into midwifery, so Biology and Psychology are perfect! I also enjoy business and I needed to take three A levels for university.

This is the first time I’ve ever done distance learning. I finished high school, but barely, due to undiagnosed health problems, and I was very reluctant to take a year out. I plan on going to uni to study midwifery and I know a lot of people don’t get in first time, so the last thing I needed was to already be a year behind.

The biggest challenge for me was not having a teacher in every ‘lesson’ making sure work got done – the Tutors are there for you, but you still need to be really self-motivated, which I found hard at times. I found that I kept saying ‘I’ll just do my coursework next week’ and putting other things first, so I think it definitely helps to make some kind of timetable and set time aside to do the work. It’s amazing how quickly assignment deadlines come around!

The benefit of home study, though, is how flexible it is. Sometimes I decide to have a lie in and don’t start my work until later, and then I’ll finish later at night, which suits me as I’m not a morning person. I also like that you can learn in whatever way suits you best.

Personally I like to write everything down and watch a lot of Youtube videos on the topics I’m studying, and the course books work really well for me as well. Others might prefer to learn through different activities, however, and in a classroom the teacher has to cater for all learning types, whereas with home study you can focus on yourself and how you learn most effectively.”