I entered academia from medicine, where I practised nursing and taught pre-qualification key skills to nurses studying for their BTech degrees. I also assessed and verified NVQ awards. As a member of the Institute for Learning’s Advisory Council, I helped achieve parity between Qualified Teacher Status (a Primary and Secondary Education qualification) and Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (a Further Education qualification), permitting full bi-directional job mobility across Primary, Secondary and Further Education. My journey in academia has been two-fold, first in gaining formal academic and professional qualifications, such as Advanced Teacher Status, and secondly, as a specialist study skills tutor supporting students receiving Disabled Students Allowances. Additionally, I support former students in the workplace under the Department for Work and Pensions Access to Work scheme.