I went from cleaner to manager — and my degree came debt-free

Studying with the Ou requires dedication and perseverance. But the rewards can be life-changing, as these stories reveal . . . UNLIKE many of her friends when they left school, Faye Tester ‘just didn’t fancy’ going to university and was particularly worried about getting into debt.

She admits her family’s eyebrows were raised, though, when she applied for a job as a cleaner.

‘Admittedly, I didn’t have a burning desire to clean toilets, but it was a job and I knew it could lead to other jobs.’

That was in 2009 with SGN, a large gas distribution network.

Faye, 27, says: ‘It was a progressive thing. I started cleaning, then doing admin work, such as filling the office printer with paper. Next, I worked as a facilities manager — overseeing the cleaners — then as a receptionist.’

It was while moving up the ranks at work, aged 20, that she applied to do an Open University degree in environmental management. Despite being selfmotivated and someone who clearly would have developed quickly anyway, she is convinced that her OU degree was necessary. ‘Absolutely,’ she says. ‘I could

only have gone so far at work without it. I needed the formal qualifications.’

Because of her low earnings, she qualified for a grant, so was able to sign up for her degree without being racked by money worries. However, it was by no means an easy route.

‘For eight years, I didn’t have much of a social life. I was studying in my lunch hour and when I came home in the evenings.

‘I remember when I started to see my partner [who she has now been with for two years], I missed his birthday because a big assignment was due in.’ But Faye is proud to be a university graduate and hasn’t got any debt. She says: ‘I see people I went to school with, who did things in the traditional way, come out with very different experiences.

‘Some have huge debts and no job yet. I’m glad I took the route I did.’

She is certainly reaping the rewards, working as an environment manager.

She believes that working and studying in tandem made complete sense. ‘I was able to apply the knowledge I was picking up from my studies in my job. It’s got more and more useful as I’ve gone on.’

Now, she’s well placed on the career ladder when many of her contemporaries are still struggling to get a foothold.

And she’s convinced that if, and when, she reaches the top, her OU experience, combined with a life in the workplace, will make her better qualified than most.