CLASS OF 2021: Mairah nurses her ambition to work with children

From Clearing to Graduation

Mairah Anam Ahmed, 21, from Dudley had always nursed an ambition to work with children and, after she passed her BTEC qualification in Health & Social Care, she had set her heart on becoming a midwife.

Unfortunately, after applying to several universities to study for a degree in Midwifery, she was declined and it was after she approached the University of Wolverhampton through Clearing that she successfully secured a place on a Children’s Nursing Degree at Walsall Campus.

Mairah said: “I was always good with children and knew I wanted to work with them so I thought that being a midwife would be an ideal career for me.  I’d worked with children on my work experience at college and decided to apply for degree courses in Midwifery.

“Unfortunately, and disappointingly, my applications were declined and I didn’t think that I was going to be able to go to university.”

Mairah’s brother worked at the University of Wolverhampton and suggested that she call the Clearing Hotline to talk about alternative options for studying.

“I really wanted to go straight into studying, I didn’t want to have a gap year and start to forget everything I had learned on my BTEC.  I wanted to get straight into it.  So I rang the Clearing Hotline and they were really calming on the phone and really clear on what my options were.

“I was offered a place on the Children’s Nursing Degree course at Walsall Campus and it turns out that this was actually ideal for me – it was more focused on the children rather than the mother, which is the focus of the Midwifery course so this suited me much better.

“It wasn’t all plain sailing, I wasn’t so good with Maths and English so the academic side of the course was a challenge for me, but I absolutely loved the practical side and the placements.  And I actually prefer working with families, I get to interact with mothers, fathers and the children.”

Mairah secured a job as a Children’s Nurse in the Accident & Emergency Children’s department at Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley where she worked for a year and, having recently got engaged, she is going to relocate to take up the same role at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough.

She said: “This is a dream for me. And my advice to anyone looking for a course is to never give up, even if you’re declined somewhere, there will be something written for you. Clearing is a wonderful way to get into university, so just go for it.”

Graduates are encouraged to keep in touch with the Alumni team and take advantage of a range of benefits and support on offer to them including a discount for Postgraduate study and opportunities to benefit from mentoring, volunteering and career advice.

To apply for University in September, visit our Clearing webpage. For more information, our next Open Day is on Saturday 20 August 2022.