A Hereford record shop owner applied to university through clearing and has ended up becoming a lecturer on the same course he studied a mere seven years before.

Back in 2017, Ian Smith was 40 years old and had worked full time at a classical record shop in his hometown of Hereford since leaving school at the age of 16.

When the shop sadly shut down, Ian found himself at a crossroads and ended up applying to the BSc (Hons) Computer Games Design & Development course at Cardiff Metropolitan University through Clearing – a scheme allowing students who have not yet applied for university, perhaps those deciding to go at a later date, to still be able to apply.

Mr Smith “had always enjoyed gaming and coding. My dad was very forward thinking and bought the family a computer in 1981. During my free time, I would spend evenings creating my own games. It was my hobby outside of work".

“I didn’t even know that gaming was something you could go to university to learn about. Discovering that I could improve my knowledge of gaming and potentially make a career from it was a lightbulb moment for me.”

Mr Smith decided to get in touch with the course leader of the Cardiff Met course in July 2017. Since then, “everything in my life has now changed,” he said. “I had planned to set up a computer games company when I graduated, however during my studies, I got involved with the student coaching at Cardiff Met and this led to me supporting students and discovering a passion for teaching".

Mr Smith applied “for the Associate Tutor position when it became available after I graduated. Through the encouragement of my peers, I have since gone on to teach on the course that I studied on.”

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After his 2021 graduation, Mr Smith became a Cardiff Met lecturer while doing his PhD. “I can’t imagine what I would be doing now if I hadn’t gone back to university.”

For advice on Clearing and how to apply, visit the Cardiff Metropolitan University website.