Written off by the system after failing her 11 Plus, a North-East grandmother has just been appointed a senior university lecturer after finally getting her degree.

She talks to Women's Editor Christen Pears about her struggle for recognition.

AS YOUNG Jenny Withington rode around on her bike, it was with head hung low. She was only 11 but she was old enough to feel a deep sense of regret - the second hand bicycle representing a badge of shame.

"I'd been promised a brand new bike but I had to pass my 11 Plus," the Darlington grandmother recalls. "But I failed it and my parents got me a second hand bike instead. Riding around on that, people knew I hadn't passed."

Even though it's approaching 50 years ago, the memory of her first failure in life still pains her. "It was the shock, the horror and the social and cultural differences it made to my life that hurt the most," says the 57-year-old former student of Darlington College of Technology. "I was sent to a secondary school and put in a D class. I was devastated. Everything changed and I was seen as a disappointment. This shaped my lack of interest in everything and I had the distinct feeling that I was a disappointment and a waste of time."

Her answer was to throw herself into marriage at the age of 17 and, soon after, motherhood as she went on to have five children. That would have been more than enough to leave many people feeling fulfilled. "But I felt there was something missing," says Jenny. "I knew there was more to me than that."

So at the age of 38, and with children aged seven, 13, 15, 17 and 19, Jenny decided to take up nursing and trained as a State Enrolled Nurse at Aycliffe Hospital, specialising in mental handicap. It meant her husband Robert had to work nightshifts so there was always someone there for the children. But between them they managed and she also studied courses in stress management, bereavement and loss and care of the elderly. She later qualified as a Registered Nurse in Mental Handicap and a staff nurse.

"It was when I became a training officer that I became interested in NVQs, becoming an assessor and internal verifier," she says. "I could see they were a stepping stone for people like me and I felt very strongly about it. I was also asked to join Teesside University and took a diploma in higher education, in health studies, followed by a teaching and assessing in clinical practice qualification."

Jenny then went back to Darlington College to take a further adult education teaching certificate, a certificate of education and a BA Honours degree in education and training. She has just been appointed as a senior lecturer in health and social care at the University of Teesside and is part of the NVQ team teaching both on campus and at Darlington College.

"I am absolutely delighted," she says. "I am now getting the respect and everything else that goes with it and am so thankful for the opportunities and for the support of my husband, Robert. By lecturing, I am also able to give something back to the organisations who offered me such unconditional support.

"There is absolutely no reason why people cannot achieve like I have if they have the determination to do it. The opportunities are out there and people need to look for them. Mature students have a tremendous amount of experience of life and skills they can use. You will find it a bit harder and will have to shout a bit louder in order to be heard but my maturity helped as I was never afraid to ask for help.

"I think I have now shown there is more to me than just someone who failed their 11 Plus."