“I really didn’t know there were options other than continuing at school. It was the only path I’d been told about. I didn’t have any hope in myself, and I could see myself just ending up in a dead-end job. I didn’t feel like university was an option for people like me.”
As he was a care leaver, a teacher suggested Cristiano could attend a summer programme called Success 4 Life at the end of Year 11, a collaboration between the Wigan and Leigh College, the council and GM Higher.
Anna Dawe OBE, who is Principal and CEO of the college, explains: “With Success 4 Life, students who don’t traditionally go to university can come and explore the different pathways that can help get them there. They may not know what they want to do and they might have certain challenges that are stopping them accessing next steps.”
This careers intervention opened Cristiano’s eyes to pathways other than A-levels – technical pathways, T-levels and apprenticeships. It really struck a chord with him that there was an alternative.
“I only received three GCSEs and I scraped through all of them,” says Cristiano. “The point when things started to change was the summer school I went to. That’s when I began to get some careers advice, guidance and support and new doors opened up. I learned about different educational routes that focused primarily on coursework and would suit me better than school had. I was shown that university was actually an option for me and I’d have plenty of support getting there. College felt like a much better route for me to get there – an option I could be confident in. I could see college as a stepping stone to something much bigger.”
“When young people aren’t given the full breadth of options, there’s always a risk that they aren’t prepared if the route they had believed was for them doesn’t materialise for whatever reason, or ends up not being right for them,” says Anna.
“For example, Cristiano’s GCSE results weren’t what he had wanted them to be. So, even if he had felt school was the right place for him, the option of A-levels wasn’t there. Without the careers guidance he had received, that could have really knocked him off course. It could have left him feeling that he had failed, he could have lost his way and become NEET. He could have ended up in a job that he didn’t enjoy, that he wouldn’t have retained. That has many, many implications, both individually and for society,” Anna continues. “But when careers guidance has prepared young people well and then life throws a curve ball they know what their options are, they can exercise choice and it keeps them on track.”
Cristiano enrolled at Wigan and Leigh College to do a technical course in computing and re-sat one of his GCSEs, meaning he could keep progressing through college.
“Strong careers guidance, underpinned by the Gatsby Benchmarks, is a strategic priority for us. It’s in our strategic plan. It is a huge feature of what we do. Careers guidance, if it’s in every single aspect, makes what we do relevant. When it’s a strategic priority, it does so much more to the learner experience,” explains Anna.
“The careers programme we have through the benchmarks really refined his dreams and set an ambition for Cristiano – he really wanted to go to university. We moved the focus of our support and careers guidance to reflect this aspiration.”
“I’d fallen in love with the cyber security units of my college course and just wanted to delve into it more,” Cristiano continues. “The career guidance I got from the college was phenomenal. Through more exposure to cyber security and meeting employers from different types of organisation in the sector, I knew it was right for me. The college showed me what the pathways were for me personally, which unis I might want to go to and how to apply to them. They helped me plan how to get there and supported me the whole way.”
“I’m now studying at the University of Lancashire towards a degree in Cyber Investigations with Digital Forensics, combining a Law degree with a Computer Science one. I want to continue to do an MSc too.”
Anna adds, “Cristiano first came back to see us just a few weeks after he started and he was so excited and happy – his face just lit up when he was talking about it. He’s got a job as an ambassador for the university, showing prospective students around the campus and sharing his journey, which is really inspiring. He’s thriving both in the subjects he’s studying and with university life. It was the right choice for him.”
“If you’d have told me when I was in Year 11 that I’d be where I am now, I’d have laughed in your face and said: ‘not a chance – uni isn’t meant for people like me.’ I always doubted myself. But I’ve proved myself wrong, found something I love doing. I’m proud of where I am now and excited for what’s next. Things can work out in the end,” says Cristiano.
“Good career guidance took me from not knowing what I wanted to do and not being at all interested in learning to having somewhere to go and something to achieve. It gave me a passion to learn and it gave me a future.”