One year on from my higher education graduation student journey – Karl Bickerton

Giving up his job of 17 years to finish his university-level qualification is just one of the reasons why Karl received Walsall College’s Higher Education Student of the Year Award 2019.  ‘Anything is possible if you put your mind to it,’ he said at the time.

12 months on, here’s how things have been going for the HNC Construction and Built Environment graduate.

I’m currently a property surveyor working for Unitas (a repairs and maintenance company for Stoke on Trent City Council).

It’s been a tricky year.  Covid restricted some of the work my colleagues and I could do as we couldn’t access tenanted properties.  Working from home also took some getting used to.

Looking back, my HNC has given me the edge for my future career.

The various elements of the course are all things I use professionally in my role today, such as scoping of work, writing reports and bills of quantities etc.  Using Microsoft Excel – something I struggled with at the time – I now use daily.

And the group role plays we did were a big thing for me.  I meet with different contractors on site to discuss projects, so that part of the course was very advantageous for me.

Something else I valued was the support of my lecturers.  Both Andy Stubbs and Martin Lake were excellent in delivering the skills and knowledge required for me to complete the course successfully.

The team I work with at Unitas are great too.  They inspire me to keep pushing myself with their help, including passing on their knowledge of the industry.