Along with thousands of other students across York, Dorothy Shaw is swotting away for her imminent GCSE exam.

REVISING: Dorothy Shaw, of Dikelands, Haxby, with calculator and GCSE pack, who is backing Adult Learners' Week

Picture: Paul Baker

But unlike most pupils stepping up their revision in preparation for their exams, Dorothy is taking her GCSE in accounts at the age of 84.

Dorothy, who lives in Old Dikelands, Haxby, is one of many adults who have returned to study and is backing Adult Learners' Week, which starts today.

The week is aimed at encouraging adults to go back to study, whether it is to learn to paint or take a degree.

Last year Dorothy obtained her IBT II computing course at York College, she is taking her GCSE accounts this year and plans to take A' level next year.

She said: "I was very angry to think I didn't know anything about computing and kids did.

"I wanted to do accounts because I listen to business reports and hear people talking about Tessas and things and I wanted to find out all about it."She said she was right behind Adult Learners' Week.

"I personally think everybody should go back and get more education - I'm hooked on it," said Dorothy.

"There are so many people, particularly in my generation, who lost out. I was very lucky to get a scholarship.

"The country has missed a lot of highly-intelligent people who didn't have the money - everybody should go back and learn as much as they can just for the fun of it."

Going back to school has become something of a habit for Dorothy, whose own early education was at Newland High School in Hull.

She won a scholarship to the school and studied there between the ages of 11 and 18.

After that she trained as a nurse, then a midwife, in Leeds, and in the Second World War she joined Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve.

She then spent several years living abroad after marrying her former husband, David, an army officer.

But in the 1950s she retrained as a teacher and then in the 1970s was one of the first students to obtain an Open University degree.

She finally retired to York after teaching for several years in a school in South Africa.

York College is running a daily stall in Parliament Street from today 17 May, until Saturday from 10am from 4pm about courses on offer. For more information call 01904 770200.

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