University of Plymouth history student, 72, says 'it’s never too late to study'

A 72-year-old student who took his first GCSE at 69 says it's "never too late" to go back into education.

Tony Miller is in his second year of a History with Creative Writing degree at the University of Plymouth, and loving the experience.

Having left a "horrible" school environment in his early teens with no qualifications, he went to work at the dockyard in his native Portsmouth for 14 years, followed by 12 in Plymouth.

He followed this with building railway signal systems, but he always maintained a love of reading, especially around History and heritage.

Tony had a family with his late wife, Lyn, and lived happily for 47 years. Upon losing her he didn’t know what to do next.

But the arrival of the Covid pandemic catalysed his move towards pursuing a passion – and the rest, as they say, is history.

“If there’s such a thing as a soul mate, my wife was mine. When I lost her in 2017 it left me looking for a new path and Covid coming along in 2020 helped nothing.

"Throughout my time in Portsmouth and later on when we moved to Plymouth, I’ve always loved History so I joined Plymouth Time Bank.

"I enjoyed intelligent conversation with people, which I’d really missed, and wanted to do more, so someone suggested an Access Course."

Tony took his first GCSE aged 69 with On Course South West before embarking on an Access to Humanities course at City College Plymouth, where he went on to win Access Student of the Year.

From there, he felt a History degree – alongside developing his creative writing – seemed like the next logical step.

"I went to an Open Day at the University of Plymouth and was absolutely blown away by the enthusiasm of everybody who spoke.

"Honestly, the lecturers’ passion for their subjects is so infectious, and I knew it was the right place for me.

"By coincidence, my son studied Business here and my grandson is also doing a Psychology degree, so it runs in the family. We’ve all had great experiences, and I know I’ve got plenty more to come."

As well as averaging good marks on his assignments so far, Tony has thrown himself into student life.

He volunteers at The Box, has joined the Mature Students’ network and History Society of the Students’ Union, and even put himself forward as a Student Ambassador to meet and greet prospective students and their families.

“I’ve got a good 40 years on the next youngest in the History cohort, but I’m loving every second. It’s great to tell my story and if it can help someone else see that it’s never too late to pursue your passion, then fantastic.”

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