WORKINGTON man Adam Wood has revealed how he left school without a single qualification - and now has a masters degree.

The 26-year-old has told his story in an attempt to inspire other people who struggle as he did at school.

Adam grew up in the Salterbeck area of Workington and attended St Joseph’s secondary school.

But after becoming estranged from his parents and living with relatives, he left school with no qualifications, and no direction in life.

“I didn’t really enjoy school,” he said. “I went through a phase where it was going badly.

“I didn’t enjoy life. My family circumstances were difficult, I felt neglected and abandoned. I was just drifting for a couple of years, and didn’t know what I wanted to do.

“I always wanted to do music but I never did at school. Carlisle College took me on and it changed my life. It was hard at first because I wasn’t really academic.”

He then went onto attend the University of Hertfordshire and as an undergraduate achieved a first class degree in BSc Music Composition and Technology for Film and Game. He then added a Masters with Distinction in MSc Music and Sound for Film and Games.

Now Adam, back home in Cumbria and living in Carlisle, is back at the college taking a 12-month course to enable him to become a music teacher - and he hopes to teach those who find themselves in the situation he did.

“I want to be a teacher. I also still want to write music for film,” he said.

“I would like to stress how much doing music at Carlisle college and their tutors changed my life. I never thought I would be going to university, never mind getting a masters degree.

“I owe my auntie Sherie Turnbull and my nana Pat Wood a lot for believing in me and supporting me when I needed it most. I can not thank them enough.

“The reason I want to put this story out there is because it would have been beneficial to me 10 years ago to see that it can be done, if it can help even one person going through a similar thing it will have been worth it.”