Charlene Sakala, BA (Hons) Politics, joined through Clearing
"I came to study at LSBU through Clearing. I was originally accepted to study politics and international relations in Scotland," explains Charlene. "I have a family and ultimately I made a decision that it would be better for my son and I to live in London."
Clearing offers many choices
UCAS advised Charlene to deregister from her first university and go through the Clearing process. That's how she came to study at LSBU. "I could not be happier," explains Charlene. "The location is ideal, plenty of public transport and LSBU's central location give mea lot of flexibility in juggling full-time study and raising a family. Plus, I'm aware LSBU is a top university for graduate starting salaries – what more can I ask for?"
Studying our BA (Hons) Politics, Charlene has bold plans to work in the charity sector on a range of women's and children's issues such as physical and sexual violence, women's empowerment, education for girls worldwide and helping to end underage marriage.
Like many modern students, Charlene didn't take the traditional route from A-Levels straight to university. She's previously completed a number of further education courses, including an Access to Higher Education Diploma at a local college.
"Clearing is a great way of getting onto a course if you have a change of heart. Make that call as early as possible and sell yourself. The people that handle the calls are really friendly and experienced in giving advice."
Fitting it all in
"I have been enjoying university, even though I do find it challenging," says Charlene. "But I thrive on that. My grades have been 'so far, so good'. I have been achieving firsts and seconds for my coursework and I hope to do even better in my second year because the first year has been a learning process."
"The lecturers have been great and always encouraging. The students are very diverse and I have made new friends and best of all it is a very 'friendly' university."