My name is Lleyton Scott, and I have just started my 3rd year studying Professional Policing at York St John University.
The reason for choosing higher education was to expand my knowledge in a specialist subject area that isn’t widely taught at school or college. In the current climate of Policing, it is required that all new applicants have a recognised degree to be successfully recruited; I believed going to university would be the most appropriate and fulfilling route to achieve this. In addition to this, I believed that going to university would enhance my life skills and provide invaluable experiences which would increase my employability to the police service.
I chose to study Professional Policing as my career aspiration is to become a Police Constable and, after doing some course research, found the curriculum to be very broad and wholistic providing students with vast knowledge and expertise in several areas of policing.
My college and parents supported me and influenced my decision to go to university. My college helped me with the formalities of the application process and writing my personal statement. My dad provided me with an insight drawn from his university experience about student life, workload, and sports societies which massively appealed to me. I had also been unsuccessful with my application for the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship due to its popularity and my limited life experience. These factors greatly influenced my decision to go to university which I am very grateful for.
I participated in a private campus tour, an open day, and a decision day at York St John University. These visits provided me with an excellent insight into the structure of university lectures, student services, and sports & societies clubs. I made my mind up quite quickly about choosing YSJ due to its small friendly city campus, location close to home, and the fact that it offered my course. I didn’t look at any other universities which in hindsight would have provided beneficial comparisons however I am still satisfied that I made the right choice.
I chose to move away from home despite my hometown of Scarborough being a commutable distance to York. I wanted to gain the full university experience of living away from home to build independence and resilience, and to experience the full student life of joining sports & societies which is difficult to do when commuting.
My first-year university accommodation was the cheapest offering at YSJ meaning it was basic and functional, however it relieved financial pressure on me and my family as my student loan covered the full year’s rent. My room was a standard single bedroom which had everything a student would need such as a large desk, plenty of wardrobe space, and storage. The bathrooms and kitchen were quite outdated and lacking some modern touches however they satisfied their purpose (with the odd call to maintenance to fix things).
Invaluable advice I would give to future students would be to do plenty of research into their chosen course and attend a few different university open days to gain a wholistic perspective of university and get a feel for the cities they are located in. I would also highly recommend joining a couple sports & societies as this is the easiest way to meet many like-minded people and represent your university doing a hobby you love.
I am part of YSJ Tennis Club and the Policing Society. I have represented my university in almost all BUCS tennis fixtures playing eight different universities across the north-east of England, and frequently attend the Wednesday night sports & societies socials. I have also participated in several workshops and events organised by the Policing Society which has been a welcoming addition of knowledge to my Policing degree.
I have three 0 hour contracted jobs, two working for the university as a Student Ambassador and Leisure Centre Assistant, and the other for a local retail company in York. These jobs have provided me with plenty of employability skills and experience such as time management and communication skills which should enhance my CV and attractiveness to post graduation employers.
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