From illiterate to degree holder: Scottish woman obtains first-class honours degree in 10 years

A woman who could not read or write at 16 has earned a first-class honours degree at university.

Ms Chloe McRoberts will be presented with a social work degree from Glasgow Caledonian University later this week.

The 26-year-old Scot from the town Ayr struggled with “erratic behaviour“ during her early years.

The lack of access to learning support at school had caused her to fall behind in her studies. As a result, she left school without qualifications.

“I’d realised I was dyslexic when I was around about primary three,” said Ms McRoberts to BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme. She mentioned that she was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

She added that she always had struggles in school, on top of reading, writing and numbers.

When she entered her sixth year in primary school, her dad died. That made things much harder for her, she added.

Her struggles continued in her secondary school years. She did not receive the support she needed in her learning there too, she said.

While she noted that concepts did make sense to her in her mind, she said that things did not make sense outside of her mind. She was therefore not able to display her understanding. That had built up frustration within her.

Her mother had to quit her job in order to support her learning. Despite that, she eventually withdrew from school without qualifications.

Help at last

Ms McRoberts was finally able to receive the right help from South Ayrshire Council’s Learning Shop Project.

She restarted her academic journey there. In the project, she was taken right back to the basics. There, she learnt how to read and write.

“It’s like building up the muscle strength in my arm to be able to write,” she noted.

Even though she felt like she had fallen behind her peers, she had the determination to catch up with them.

While it took her 10 years to get there, she shared that she is now “proud of (herself), most definitely”.

She now hopes to make a difference in the lives of others. Ms McRoberts works on a disabilities-centric team which helps children across several schools.

She has learnt British Sign Language and aspires to eradicate the barrier between people, she added.

She will graduate with her first-class degree later this week and told the BBC that the moment will be “emotional” and “surreal”.