BA (Hons) Football Business & Media Student, Alice Kelk started at UCFB Burnley in 2013 with aspirations to work in the media industry. Over the past two years, Alice has worked immensely hard to achieve outstanding academic results and gain some of the best work experience overseas in America and with the BBC during the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015. It is this determination combined with the support from UCFB’s Student Services Team which has helped Alice overcome a number of challenges during her studies.

Alice suffers from Myalgic Encephalopathy (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), a condition which causes her to struggle greatly with fatigue and in turn has a counteracting effect on her concentration levels. As Alice finds it difficult to concentrate for long periods of time, this affects her learning as she cannot always stay for the full duration in her lectures and seminars.

Although difficult, Alice has found life at UCFB much easier than life at sixth form due to the outstanding work and commitment that the Student Services team have provided. Senior Learning Support Mentor, Rachel Walker has worked with Alice from her first day at UCFB, providing support throughout lectures by sending the PowerPoint slides prior to the lecture rather than Alice writing the notes from the slides while fighting her concentration levels.

The Student Services team arranged for Alice to sit her exams in her own room in addition to providing her with extensions on coursework to ensure she is given equal opportunities to fellow UCFB students. Where the team cannot advise, they will strive to bring in someone who can, and in Alice’s first semester in her first year at UCFB she was introduced to life coach, James Marquis. James provided Alice with a wealth of additional support, helping her to overcome her anxiety around her condition and teaching her how to deal with this in a new environment.

BA (Hons) Football Business & Media Student at UCFB, Alice commented:

“I honestly cannot thank the Learning Support Team enough for all the help they have given me from the first day I stepped in to UCFB. My experience so far has been completely different to my sixth form experience as I no longer have to fight for the help I am entitled to. UCFB couldn’t have made it easier for me. To know I have the support of the Learning Support Team provides me with a lot of comfort.”

 Alice is now in her third year at UCFB and is working extremely closely with the Learning Support Team to ensure she achieves the best results possible. Providing equal opportunities is paramount here at UCFB, thus it is vital that Alice continues to feel supported, as do all students who require a broad range of support.