Councillor obtains English GCSE aged 68 and plans to take on maths next

A councillor who has obtained a level 7 English language GCSE having retired in 2022 said he enjoyed the class so much he has signed up for GCSE maths in September.

Keith Dibble, 68, a Labour councillor from Aldershot, who received his results on Thursday, is among the mature students who have studied a GCSE this year and passed with results that exceeded their expectations.

A mother from Birmingham, meanwhile, said she “couldn’t stop smiling” after receiving a level 5 in her GCSE biology exam to fulfil a “lifelong ambition”.

Zoe Lee, 49, a marketing and communications director at BMet College in Birmingham and a mature student at Sutton Coldfield College on the BMet campus said she would be happy to receive a level 4, but felt “amazing” after exceeding this prediction.

Keith Dibble, 68, achieved level 7 in English language and plans to take on maths in September (Keith Dibble/PA)

Mr Dibble told the PA news agency: “Really pleased I got the level 7 and the distinction in public speaking.

“I found the whole experience really good and I’d say to anyone in adult life, even putting aside the outcome, just going through the learning process was really enjoyable.”

Mr Dibble left school originally with one O-level and “a bunch of CSEs” but returned to education to study at Farnborough College of Technology, which he said was “daunting” at the start.

The Labour councillor said: “Even though I’ve been used to attending board meetings and such things, to suddenly go back into the classroom after 50-odd years was quite frightening – but (I was) made to feel at ease.

“At 67 you can ask questions that maybe at 16 you’re too embarrassed to ask if you don’t understand something.

“At school I was very shy and timid in the classroom, even though I was very sporty. Now I probably spoke most in the class.”

For me, it just makes me feel you can do anything

Zoe Lee, mature student

After enjoying the learning process so much, Mr Dibble now has plans to study another GCSE next month.

He said: “Two or three of us from the class enjoyed it so much we’ve signed up for GCSE maths from September.”

Meanwhile, Ms Lee told PA: “I can’t stop smiling. It’s been a long-harboured secret desire to get a science.

“Not getting a science bothered me and to be able to do that has just been amazing.”

Ms Lee left school in 1990 without a science GCSE, but went back to college and took evening classes to study biology.

Zoe Lee, 49, with her biology GCSE result (Zoe Lee/PA)

The mother of one received her results via email and said she was “over the moon” and felt that any achievement is possible to fulfil.

“For me, it just makes me feel you can do anything,” she said.

She has encouraged other mature students taking GCSEs or considering a GCSE to take the process in small steps.

She said: “I would say that it can be daunting going back into a classroom environment and seem overwhelming to tackle a whole big subject area, but if you take it literally step by step then you can do it.”

Ms Lee attended weekly evening classes over the last year to study the subject and said she learned the value of “never giving up on yourself”.

She also hopes that the experience will help her daughter, Megan, 13, when it comes to her GCSE exams.

Ms Lee explained: “It will definitely help me now to help my daughter when she, next year, starts her GCSEs in exam prep – how to get ready and study tips.”

While she has no plans to study for any more GCSEs, Ms Lee enjoyed her evening classes so much that she is considering a plastering and decorating course to learn a new skill.

“I might do that to give myself that skill and save myself a fortune in decoration and labour costs,” she said.