DCG Success Stories

Derby College Group staff member Amy Hitch is making the most of the college’s free distance learning courses.

An apprenticeship recruitment executive, she has already taken six online courses covering retail, health and team leadership and is currently completing a seventh – this time in mental health awareness.

Amy, 31, is a former DCG student and did Level 3 Childhood Studies at the old Ilkeston site before gaining a BA honours degree in the same subject from Derby University.

She started her current job at the college in August 2021, after working in healthcare and early years education once she’d graduated.

Amy said: “All the distance learning courses I’ve taken have helped me in my role and are a useful addition to my other qualifications. I work full-time but I like studying and I’m able to do my coursework in the evenings after I’ve put my five-year-old daughter to bed.

“I’ve enjoyed doing them all but I especially like the mental health course I’m taking now. Mental health is such a big issue these days.”

Amy is based at the Roundhouse but works across all DCG colleges, covering all subject areas and liaising with major employers who offer apprenticeship programmes, such as Derby Homes and the NHS.

She says the best part of her job is engaging with the students and finding them the right apprenticeships.

Over the past few years, Amy has completed Level 2 Certificates in Information, Advice or Guidance, The Principles of Team Leading, The Principles of Customer Service and The Principles of the Control of Infection in Healthcare Settings.

She also has  a Level 2 Certificate in Understanding Specific  Learning Difficulties and in Understanding Autism and will soon finish the Level 2 Certificate in Awareness of Mental Health Problems.