Going to college for the first time in adulthood can prove a difficult task for those who take a second chance at achieving academic qualifications. Anne Byrne reports

Any mature student will tell you it's tough going. But, it's doubly tough for mature students who are also socio-economically disadvantaged. Billy Ridge was told he was no good at school. "I was always being sent to the back of the class. There was no great encouragement from home either. By third-year in secondary school, I'd had enough and left to serve my apprenticeship as a carpenter." He married Martina and had three children, now 14, 13 and nine years old.

In 1993, Billy was involved in a serious road traffic accident. "I could no longer lift weights, climb ladders or do any of the normal things a tradesman does. My life was totally changed and it took me a long time to embark on a distance learning course with the National Training and Development Institute." He completed a London City and Guilds diploma in IT and knew he wanted to go to college and do a degree in IT.

He answered an ad for an access course at NUI Galway, but feared his prospects were poor as he didn't have maths. However, he was accepted. "Not only did I do the access course, but, because I wanted to do IT, I did a foundation course in science, which NUI Galway runs in conjunction with Galway-Mayo IT. I was under pressure, but managing."

The support from the access staff was "fantastic", he says, and he was doing well when Martina had a serious accident while using an electric floor polisher. "It was very hard, the same family touched by tragedy twice. The kids have kept us going," says Billy. His wife is now preparing for her third operation.

Now in the first year of a BSc in IT, Billy is juggling family, lectures and study. "It's definitely a challenge and very tough at times. But for me this is a personal journey, and after the degree, I would love to do a masters, then, a PhD . . . I've gone from sitting at the back of the class, to being of those typical mature students who sit under the lecturer's nose."

NUI Galway runs a suite of access programmes designed to help mature students and school-leavers from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds to break down barriers and start college on an equal footing. Access officer Imelda Byrne says: "The courses gives students confidence in their abilities. They are exposed to academic tasks; they do exams and all of their tutors are university staff. We have a 20-week course for school-leavers and a 30-week programme for matures. Both programmes are geared towards students who are economically and socially disadvantaged."

The courses for mature students are run in Galway city and also in outreach centres in the Gaeltacht. While the course in Galway is oversubscribed, with three times more applicants than there are places, the courses in the Gaeltacht do not fill as easily.

"It's just not part of the culture. The tradition just is not there. We have had real success in the outreach centres, but we have to go and sell the message," says Imelda Byrne.

The courses, which run on two nights each week and one Saturday morning each month, include a taster of four academic subjects. "Ninety nine per cent of the students have no previous exposure to third-level in their families. By the time they complete the access course, they're not afraid of life on campus. They have met lecturers, tutors and department heads. They have been told about the support systems. And we stay in constant touch with them."

The access programme, which has been running since 1998, has an excellent progression rate. All students who pass the programme are guaranteed places in the faculty of their choice, with the exception of medicine. This year, there are 36 access students, which is a substantial increase on the first intake of 25. The number of school-leavers doing access programmes has also increased. However, Byrne admits it's a drop in the ocean, albeit an important drop.

There have been dropouts, the occasional failure, the occasional need to repeat exams, but in general, students who have completed an access programme fare better than those who came directly to college. Academic success aside, simply doing an access course can be a life-transforming experience.

Beartla Breathnach, a first-year BA student who has severe rheumatoid arthritis, says: "Had I not done an access course, I would probably have spent my time brooding on my ailments. I'm sometimes in a lot of pain, but I'm so busy in college, I haven't time to dwell on it." Beartla left Connemara to work in London as a bus driver for 25 years. On his return, he divided his time between farming and fishing, until, seven years ago, he got rheumatoid arthritis. With swollen joints, severe pain, and long-term medication, he could no longer do any kind of manual labour and was more or less confined to the house.

One Sunday at Mass, the priest read out various notices, including details of an access course for mature students at Carna. Bearla duly applied. "Everybody should do an access course, whether they want to go to college or not. It opens up so many possibilities for a person and gives you so much self-confidence."

Having completed the access course, Beartla is now in the first year of a BA. He gets up at 6 a.m. every morning and drives his mini-bus the 10 miles to Carna where he collects six local women, all graduates of the access course for mature students and who have also progressed to degree programmes.

They continue on the 50-mile drive to Galway and meet up again at 6 p.m. for the return journey. "It's ideal that I had the bus-driver's licence and could drive the minibus," says Beartla. He had boots specially made, because of his swollen feet. He can't drive a car, but the minibus provides adequate space.

Beartla's daughter, Maire, did the access course for school-leavers and is now in her first year of a psychology degree in NUI Galway. She lives in the city but regularly visits second-level schools in Connemara to promote the access programme.