Case Studies
Margaret Rose
When Margaret Rose, 56 from Barnstaple, developed a tumour and needed a major operation, she knew that it would be the end of her career as a cleaner. She had been a cleaner for most of her adult life, and had recently started her own business cleaning holiday lets when she became ill. Having never passed an exam at school, Margaret had a low self esteem and became depressed as she felt that she didn't know how to do anything. She said that learndirect has helped her turn her life around.
Ian Chambers
When Ian Chambers left his job as administrative position at a mail order company to work closer to home, he realised his computer skills needed to be updated. Although Ian had used a computer in his role, he used an in-house system and lacked practical experience using office computer packages that other companies demanded.
Stephen Bunting
Stephen decided to return to study and signed up to learndirect in order to gain the skills he needed to improve his job prospects.
Shazia Afzal
Shazia Afzal, 33 from Luton, is a mother of three children under nine years old. She left school at a young age without completing her GCSEs and moved abroad. When she returned to England and started a family, Shazia decided to go back to learning with learndirect to improve her skills so that she would be able to help her children with their school work.
Angela Lee
Angela believes that the skills she has gained this year with learndirect have improved her employment prospects.
Vicky Nelson
Vicky has worked tirelessly to identify suitable learning opportunities for employees at Tesco, and was recently recognised for her efforts at the learndirect Achievement Awards.
Amy Parry
Amy Parry, 25, is a single parent from Portsmouth. She was advised by her local Jobcentre Plus to enrol on learndirect courses to give both herself and her daughter a better chance in life. She took literacy, numeracy and IT courses and then an NVQ in Business Administration. Thanks to Amy's new skills and qualifications she was able to find herself permanent employment as an administrator.
Sharon Hallas
Sharon Hallas, a 33-year-old mother-of-three from Manchester, worked as a dinner lady and events steward before stopping work to look after her children full-time. When her eldest son was at primary school, Sharon found she didn't have the maths skills to help him with things like multiplication and division.
Susan MacGregor
Susan MacGregor, 39 from Berwick-upon-Tweed, is a single mum of two. Working part-time in a sun-tanning shop, she decided that she wanted to improve her career prospects and gain some formal qualifications. After hearing about learndirect from a friend, Susan decided to sign up to learndirect courses in English and IT to work towards obtaining a new job.
Becky Daniels
Daniels, 28 from Newcastle upon Tyne, had always wanted to become a nurse. After leaving school with no formal qualifications however, and having a family at a young age, she did not have the necessary qualifications to apply for university. Despite this setback, Becky remained determined to find her dream job, so she signed up with learndirect.
Samantha Kemp
Samantha Kemp, 41 from Framlingham Earl, Norfolk, has had a number of different job roles, including riding instructor, stationary sales representative, pet-sitter, PA and a customer services assistant. However, after the sudden death of her father, Samantha suffered from depression. She then discovered that a lack of formal qualifications was stopping her from finding new employment. Samantha signed up to learndirect so that she could get the qualifications she needed to help her find a new job.
Debra Paget
Debra Paget left school at 15 with no qualifications, and was working as an administrator for her local council, but she had a dream – to be qualified.
Suzanne Politi
When Suzanne Politi, 45, first got her job with Merseytravel she felt training with learndirect helped her do her job better. Since finishing her computer qualification she has become a team leader and really enjoys supporting her own team to learn and do well at work, just like her.
Tony Nichol
Tony Nichol, 32, from Newcastle had been out of work for five years because of a bone disease affecting his hips. But when his condition began to improve he didn't feel he had the right skills to get a job. This is when Tony approached learndirect and discovered he could easily brush up on his maths and English.
Alison Masters
Alison Masters, 39 from Portadown, was working as a chef when her husband tragically died in Iraq just four days before he was due to return home.
Deborah Ward
Deborah Ward is a prize winning learner from St Helens, rewarded for her success in improving her IT skills with learndirect despite suffering from ill health.
Suzanna Garrett
Suzanna Garrett, a 37 year old single mum from Redcar, was working in the complaints department of a major UK furniture retailer when her role was made redundant.
Neil Frosdick
Neil Frosdick, 43, from Gorleston is an award winning learner for overcoming difficulties with his dyslexia with learndirect to brush up on his maths and English skills.
Pauline Andow
It was when Pauline tried to apply for a job that was an extension of her current role at the hospital that she realised she would need to brush up on her maths skills if she was going to get to reach her potential.
Steven Lafuente
Having grown up in Southern Ireland, Steven Lafuente, 42, came to the UK aged 13 but fell into the wrong crowd at school. Before he found his confidence with learndirect, he’d struggled for many years to get his life back on track.