I am 71 years of age and I was convicted in 2009. I find very little for me in the day-to-day life of an inmate but I have always had an interest in the world about me and I discovered the OU prospectus in the library. It seemed to be a Godsend, both a means of keeping busy and as a way of gaining some sort of higher education that I missed out on before. The process of enrolling was somewhat fraught in that the education department of the prison I was in had personnel that had no interest in higher learning. The whole remit was to cater for people to come up to 11+ standards, not that they had any interest in helping those who could not read at all.

I looked through the prospectus and rather than go for a specific degree course, I decided to instead to opt for an Open degree, which gave me the freedom to explore as my fancy took me, so I took an Openings Course in Law. I found the discipline required was totally different from that I remembered from my schooling, but with the support and guidance of both my tutor and my fellow inmates, I managed to do my first TMA (tutor-marked assignment). When I got it back from my tutor with their comments, I felt that I was truly beginning a new chapter of my life. I will not kid you, it was not easy, at times I felt that I was fighting the prison and the Ministry of Justice to get the computer time to enable me to do the work, but now I am on the closing straight, the battles I have fought fade into insignificance. There is one thing you should know – you will only be allowed to take one 60 point module per year, so if we ignore all the other things which will interfere with your studies, it will take a minimum of six years to gain your chosen degree (I have been doing mine since 2010 with about 18 months to go). It will not be easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is.