It is never too late to learn

Rik Stone originally left school aged 15 with no qualifications. But when his daughter started school he was inspired to go back into education.

"I was helping my daughter with her homework and she got a zero for her results and I was disappointed for her and in myself," Rik told ITV Tyne Tees. "So I thought I could do better. I thought I was worth more, so I took up studying."

Rik went on to do O-levels, A-levels and a degree.

"It gave me self-belief. I believe that anything is within the limits of the human being. I set myself a target and I did it.

"I think your mind is opened up to the world generally whatever the subject might be and it makes a different person of you."

Rik is now a published author. His book, Birth of an Assassin, is on the shelves. It is about a young Jewish soldier who investigates reports of missing girls. He is then dragged into a world of human trafficking, prostitution and institutionalised corruption.

He says he couldn't have written it if he hadn't gone back into education.

"For a start, I wouldn't have been able to do the research. It's quite heavily researched, that book. Soviet Russia in post war period wasn't easy to get information on so I wouldn't have been able to find out anything about it."

And Rik has some advice for any students haven't got the results that they wanted.

"Keep trying, never give up. If you believe you can do it then you can do it."