SOMETHING local visitors often tell staff at the Royal National College for the Blind (RNC) is "I’ve driven past all of my life but had no idea what happens here."

This was my own experience when I returned to Hereford, the city where I grew up, to join the college. So what did I learn?

We’re a national, specialist college. Visually impaired students come from across the country to study here. Most live on campus in halls of residence during term time.

Students are aged between 16 and 25 and spend up to three years with us – a short time to prepare for the rest of their life in a sighted world. Students may be blind or partially sighted, may never have had sight, or may have experienced sudden or deteriorating sight loss. They come to us at an age when their peers are becoming more independent.

They have the same ambitions we all share – successful relationships, living independently, employment. This is where RNC comes in.

Our students study traditional subjects – A-levels, BTECs, NVQs – and more. They can follow a vocational or academic pathway, or combine the two.

They learn key independence skills for visually impaired people such as shopping, cooking, independent travel, braille, and assistive technology which magnifies screens or reads text.

Our curriculum covers two key elements. ‘Access to learning’ means students are not excluded from subjects which can be difficult to teach to someone visually impaired. ‘Learning to access’ means they become independent and do not need support in the classroom. This prepares them for higher education, employment and independent adult lives.

Our alumni include a Home Secretary, a stand-up comedian who is rarely off our TV screens, a long-standing Archers actor and a gold medal-winning Paralympian among many others.

LUCY PROCTOR

EXECUTIVE PRINCIPAL, ROYAL NATIONAL COLLEGE FOR THE BLIND