SRUC launches campaign in bid to attract mature students

It is never too late to take the first steps towards doing what you really want to do, with help from this initiative

Scotland’s Rural College, SRUC, has launched a campaign to encourage more people to return to the academic world as mature students.

The Change Your Path initiative sets out to highlight the many advantages of studying at a later stage in life and provide “inspiration and reassurance” to potential applicants.

Told through real-life stories, it comes at a time when, UK-wide, the number of mature students is falling. Financial concerns, family life and worries over the ability to absorb new information can be off-putting, according to SRUC’s marketing and student recruitment manager Hannah D’Mellow.

However, about one-third of SRUC’s students are classed as mature and horticulture and countryside-related topics are particularly popular with the older cohort, showing it is perfectly possible and extremely rewarding, she said.

Mature student numbers are holding steady at SRUC in contrast to the UKwide picture, with Ucas figures showing overall acceptances of people aged 21 and over into higher education fell from 114,365 in 2015 to 112,070 in 2016 and then again to 110,540 in 2017.

One student who has taken the plunge is Amber O’Quinn Jardine. She swapped a high-paid banking career for a Countryside Management HND at SRUC’s Oatridge campus in West Lothian and now plans to complete a degree to secure her dream job as an ecologist. Originally from the US, the 41-year-old said: “Once I’d met some lecturers and other mature students I never looked back. It’s a lot simpler and easier than people think – plus there is funding and bursaries available.”

Amber O’Quinn Jardine is now pursuing her dream job.