Award-Winning Work for Access to Higher Education Student

A former Access to Higher Education student has been awarded a bursary from the Ascentis David J Moore Memorial Bursary fund. The award was presented to Elizabeth Busby, in recognition of her academic achievements and dedication to the course. 

Elizabeth Busby receiving her certificate, with Brian Rubin

The David J Moore Memorial Bursary recognises the achievements of exceptional Access to Higher Education students throughout England. Elizabeth was awarded Runner Up for the Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement.

Our Access to Higher Education Programme Manager, Brian Rubin, nominated Elizabeth for the David J Moore Award due to her hard work and commitment to her two-year part-time course.

Elizabeth recently returned to visit us to receive her award certificate, and her bursary of £200. The money will go towards books for her BSc (Hons) Psychology Degree, which she started this year at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Elizabeth said: “It was an amazing surprise to be given news of the certificate and the award. When I got the call to say I’d won a bursary, I was with my little girl, and I said ‘I’ve been given an award for my hard work, and a prize of £200!’ So she ran to tell her dad who was outside, and said ‘Daddy, Mummy’s won two million pounds!’. Having my family there when I found out about the award was really nice.

“Getting the course results I worked so hard for was brilliant, and the award just acknowledges that – it’s a testament to the dedication I put in to my studies, though I wouldn’t have achieved what I did without support from the staff, including Brian.”

Brian Rubin, Access to Higher Education Programme Manager, said: “Liz was an excellent student. There are so many good students every year, but her attitude and performance was exemplary. She was kind and helped the other students, she was empathetic, and she had a nice manner and got consistently excellent results. She deserves this award, and we’re all really happy for her.”

Access to Higher Education courses allow those without the relevant A Level or equivalent qualifications to gain the skills and qualifications they need to study a Higher Education or University level course. These courses have helped hundreds of mature students gain their qualifications and head off to University.

There are still places available to study an Access to Higher Education course with us in September.