How I went to university at 65... and learned some valuable lessons in life

It was, he admits now, a trivial act, but having gained a degree at the age of 68, after years of feeling he'd missed out on education, letters were proof to the outside world of his achievements.

"I know it was stupid and silly and I did it in the smallest possible type, but to read John Scott BA (Hons) was important to me. I'd always felt education had passed my by. I grew up in the bleak 1930s with a father who was always chasing the next job. I must have moved schools about eight times and having never really settled anywhere, I spectacularly failed my 11-plus

"Those formative experiences left me with a smouldering resentment that lasted through my working life. On job applications, the section for academic qualifications was always accusingly, embarrassingly blank and I promised myself when I had the chance I would do something about it."

Despite the lack of formal qualifications, John carved out a successful career as a journalist. For 40 years he worked as the Yorkshire Post's chief reporter in York, but when it came time to give up the day job, he was determined to make good on his early promise.

At 65, he secured a place to study English Literature at the University of York and in his wallet slipped a students' union card alongside his bus pass. That, however, was the easy bit. Settling into life as an undergraduate was much more difficult.

"On my first day I couldn't help but feel a little out of place," says John, who lives with his wife Meriel in Strensall. "It was partly due to my decision to wear a shirt and tie, but there were also people I knew who thought us oldies had our chance years ago and should be

letting the young ones have a go, not squeezing them out.

"For a little while, I felt like a fish out of water, but life also seemed to have a pleasurable purpose again."

It's a feeling shared by the many thousands of mature students who this month will be packing their own bags and going back

to school.

Ploughing through what seemed like an endless reading list, John did begin to make friends with students who were just getting to grips with life away from the family home. He shared pots of milky tea, poured out into grimy mugs and discussed pending essays amid piles of dirty

washing up.

However, while many dream of following in the footsteps of the likes of Margaret Mountford, who gave up her seat in The Apprentice boardroom to study for a degree in Ancient World studies at University College London, the reality of life as a mature student, where settled home lives collide with the demands of university, is not always easy.

"I had my head in the clouds most of the time," admits John. "My wife would ask me to pick up a pound of tomatoes on the way home from lectures and I'd forget. The hedge never got cut and a damp patch developed in the hallway which I never even noticed.

"There is an element of selfishness about going back to university at the age I was. I didn't intend to take her for granted, but for three years I expected her to run a comfortable B&B for my personal convenience while I wallowed in pastures new.

"The older you get, the more you nit-pick and studying for a degree definitely allowed me to indulge that side of me. That was fine when

you were in a seminar, but it wasn't so good when you were just out with friends."

Midway through his degree, John became a grandfather for the first

time. The birth of his grandson James was life-changing, but as he struggled with French literature and got to grips with a feminist reading of Dracula, everything else he had previously taken for granted was also being challenged.

"There were times when I wondered whether I should even be at university," he says. "I felt I should be spending more time with James and sometimes it all felt a little indulgent.

"Also, as you get older your opinions tend to become so set that you automatically rebuff anything that runs counter to them.

"Suddenly I found myself being asked to read things in a hundred different ways and the result was nothing seemed certain any more. At times it felt as if the bricks were being knocked out from under my

feet.

"However, while it might have started as a journey down a long dark

road with no end in sight, by the end I was much more open and receptive to new ideas than I had ever been before."

Three years after John walked into the university, he walked out with a 2:1 degree and the claim to fame of then being the oldest person to

have ever passed through York's English department. His graduation day centred around the usual pomp and ceremony, but as a mature student it was also tinged with sadness.

"It was like retiring all over again," he says. "As I went to collect my degree, I was surrounded by all these young people who were looking forward to the rest of their lives. For them, life's great adventure was just beginning and I had a shameful twinge of regret.

"There was no such excitement waiting for me. Foolishly, I had thought university would be something complete and satisfying in itself, but instead it turned out to be an unsettling launch pad. Like them, I felt university had given me a real get up and go spirit, the only problem was I didn't know where I wanted to go or how to get there."

While tempted to remain in academia and perhaps begin an MA, John knew his wife would not be so tolerant next time . However, he still plays tennis there and occasionally wanders around the campus, thinking about what he describes as some of the best days of his life.

"I do get a little nostalgic," he says, now 82 and having just

completed a book about his experiences of returning to education, which he hopes might be of some use to other mature students just starting out. "The library was one of my favourite places. It was like stepping inside a vast, benign brain and every time I entered I had a warm feeling that I was starting out on another pleasurable journey of discovery.

"Going to university stretched me mentally and it was three of the most wonderful and satisfying years of my life. I would recommend it to anyone

"They accepted an old man into a young environment, without questioning and without judgment. To them, I was just another student and that's really all anyone could ask for."

n University at Last! by John Scott is published by Alston Books at 8.99. To order a copy through the Yorkshire Post Bookshop call 0800 0153232 or go online at www.yorkshirepostbookshop.co.uk. Post and packing costs 2.75.