John pictured at his degree ceremony with wife Betty and daughter Susan.

When John Gimson left school in 1955 aged 16, pursing higher education and attending university simply wasn’t an option.

Decades later, John took the opportunity to study and to prove to himself once and for all that he was capable of gaining a degree. Now aged 80, OU graduate John reflects on what he’s learned:     

 “Leaving secondary education at 16 in 1955 with 5 GCE 'O' levels was better than many,” says John.

“Although I'd qualified as a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute (by examination) after nine years of part-time study, I still wondered if I was smart enough to get a degree. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. Fortunately, my employer offered sponsorship for The Open University as it had work-related benefits.”

John enrolled with the OU to study for a BSc degree in 1991, while continuing to work full-time in the insurance industry. His commute, over an hour each way every day on busy trains, gave him the perfect opportunity to study. Bringing his books with him and at times a laptop computer (something John describes as ‘a rare sight in those days’), John was able to squeeze in at least 10 hours of study-time per week.

A chance to prove yourself

“My Tutor in year 1 was an interesting guy. He would express his grumpiness at those who regarded the OU as the ‘University of the second chance’. He saw it, as I did, that the OU was the first chance that many had to get a University education.”

“Looking back,” says John, “it seemed easy – though some of it wasn't, and at times I had to get help from my 23 year-old son! The early 1990s had DOS-based computers and it was pre-broadband. Downloading course material and uploading responses often had to be done at 2am when telephone line noise allowed an internet connection, via a dial-up modem, with a maximum speed of 32kb to be maintained.”

In 1996, John completed his BSc and attended a degree ceremony in Portsmouth, where he received his degree from former OU Chancellor and Speaker of the House of Commons, Betty Boothroyd.

“I have a sense of pride from completing my degree,” says John. “Almost on a daily basis, I find myself following problem-solving approaches suggested by the OU.