Graduation Tales | Duo lead the way as first law graduates from sponsored degree programme

The International Convention Centre Wales in Newport has once again seen thousands of our graduates cross the stage in their cap and gown. To celebrate, we are sharing the stories of some of our inspirational students.

The first graduates to have completed a law degree through Network 75 have praised the ‘exceptional’ programme on offer from the University of South Wales (USW).

Amy Bartlett, 25, who’s from Swansea but now lives in Bristol, and Robyn Kelly, 26, who was born and brought up in Ebbw Vale and still lives in the Blaenau Gwent town, have just finished their sponsored degree programme, doing their LLB (Hons) Legal Practice at USW while on placement with Legal and Risk Services, which is a division of the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership.

Network 75 is a combined work placement and part-time study route to a degree, which allows students to ‘work, earn, and learn’, achieving the qualifications required to get on the career ladder while not facing the financial challenges that can come from full-time study.

Amy, who has received first-class honours, took the option to study through Network 75 after initially considering going down a different route.

“I hadn't actually considered law as a career, I was going to go to a degree in politics and international relations, but I changed my mind at the last minute,” she said,

“When I was at Gower College in Swansea, where I did my A-levels, I heard about Network 75 and it seemed a little bit too good to be true, because you get the degree and have no debt.

“I’d already worked for two years in a bank after leaving learning and so already had some hands-on experience, so this route really appealed to me because I like to have my independence and the money to do things, but I also really wanted to get a degree. What you’d call a traditional ‘student life’ really didn’t appeal to me.”

After applying to Network 75, Amy was accepted on to the programme, studying for her degree while working Legal and Risk Services, which operates in the background of NHS Wales on things such as legal matters, contracts, employment, commercial, and regulatory services.

Having now completed her degree, Amy is moving on to a new job later this year.

“From the autumn I’ll be employed by the Welsh Government and I’ll be working for the next two years towards completing my Training Contract and Professional Skills Course, which is the final step towards becoming a qualified solicitor,” Amy said.

And would she recommend other people follow the Network 75 path?

“Although it can be a hard slog, and you have to balance study, work, and your personal life, it’s definitely worth it. I have learned so much about the professional requirements that come with working in the legal sector.

“I don't feel as scared as I could have if I was just coming straight out of a degree and straight into a training contract. It’s been an exceptional experience and one I would 100% advise that people follow.”

For Robyn Kelly, the route to her degree course was very different to Amy’s. She left Coleg Gwent with three A-levels before deciding to go back to education following a stint working towards being involved another arm of the legal sector by training to be a police officer.

“When I did my A-levels things didn’t really go too well for me, so I wasn’t sure I wanted to go further with my education – I had in my mind that it wasn’t something I could do, as in the environment in which I grew up, doing a degree wasn’t something that people did,” she said.

“After that I got my head down and worked but then decided that I wanted to try out for the police force. I started the training but then realised it wasn’t for me, and decided I wanted to go back into learning and started a USW sports degree through Coleg Gwent in Pontypool.

“It was while I was completing the Foundation phase of the course I heard about Network 75 from my partner and decided to apply to join the law degree course.”

That decision turned out to be the ideal one for Robyn.

“I love sports, but then didn’t really think of it as a career,” she said. “But what it did show me was that, even after struggling with A-levels and having the ‘imposter syndrome’ of thinking I wasn’t the sort of person who did a degree, I could do it, and deserved the chance to go to university.

“I'd always wanted to do law, so getting on the course was a great opportunity, and now, having a 2.1 class degree and a training contract with Legal and Risk Services, I have shown that the hard slog was worth it and now I’ll go on to become a qualified solicitor in a couple of years.

“Network 75 didn’t just help me towards my degree, it also helped me prove to myself that I have what it takes to get to that level and helped dispel the doubts I had about my abilities.”