Case Studies
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.
Hazel Kendryna
Hazel Kendryna, now 38, dreaded maths lessons when she was at school and her fear of numbers carried on throughout her adult life. She was working 6 different jobs as a cleaner, including cleaning her local public toilet, until in November 2006 she decided to make a change and approached learndirect.
Francine Etse
Francine Etse arrived in the UK from Togo six years ago and originally worked in shop as a sales assistant. Having left work to have children, Francine was unemployed for around three years before she decided to try to move into a different career with help from learndirect.
John Cook
Two learners from Middlesbrough were celebrating today after winning awards at the North East Regional learndirect Achievement Awards, being recognised in four categories.
Patricia Harvey
Patricia Harvey from Walthamstow is celebrating her success after winning an award at the London learndirect Achievement Awards ceremony.
Michelle Hogarth
Getting a qualification has helped Michelle Hogarth realise her dream of working with children. Take a look at her story.