University of Warwick Centre for Lifelong Learning

🎓 Curious about studying Coaching at postgraduate level?

Join Course Director Ian Day for a virtual taster session on Thursday 3 September at 12.00 pm and discover what it’s like to study Coaching at Warwick.

You’ll get an insight into key topics covered on the course, explore how coaching can support your professional development, and hear more about the student experience. There’ll also be an opportunity to ask Ian any questions you may have.

Take the opportunity to explore postgraduate Coaching at Warwick and discover how the course could help you build your skills, broaden your expertise and support your professional goals.

Register here: https://bit.ly/4zEo00O

🎓 Curious about studying Coaching at postgraduate level?

Join Course Director Ian Day for a virtual taster session on Thursday 3 September at 12.00 pm and discover what it’s like to study Coaching at Warwick.

You’ll get an insight into key topics covered on the course, explore how coaching can support your professional development, and hear more about the student experience. There’ll also be an opportunity to ask Ian any questions you may have.

Take the opportunity to explore postgraduate Coaching at Warwick and discover how the course could help you build your skills, broaden your expertise and support your professional goals.

Register here: https://your.warwick.ac.uk/form/Coaching?event_id=5634

🎓 Congratulations to the Class of 2026!

We are incredibly proud to celebrate all of our graduates and award winners on this special day. Your hard work, resilience, and commitment have brought you to this remarkable achievement, and we couldn't be happier to celebrate alongside you.

A heartfelt thank you also goes to our dedicated teaching staff. Your commitment to our students continues to inspire and make a lasting difference.

To every graduate, award recipient, and member of our teaching community, we are so proud of you. Congratulations on this well-deserved achievement, and we wish you every success in the exciting journey ahead. 💙

What motivates someone to progress from a professional diploma to a master's degree? 📚

In this edition of , our student Denise shares how her learning journey at the University of Warwick gradually transformed uncertainty about undertaking a dissertation into enthusiasm for exploring a topic they were passionate about.

"University of Warwick wasn’t the only university I considered but I was attracted to its blend of academic study and practical experience. And so, I enrolled and embarked on the 2-year Diploma in Coaching. I loved it. I really enjoyed the workshops, meeting new people and whilst the assignments weren’t easy undertaking them did reveal the understanding I was looking for whilst at the same time developing my coaching skills.

As I worked through my second year my resistance to doing a dissertation started to soften. I started to think that it may be quite refreshing to do a deep dive into a subject I was interested in without the pressures of fitting it in around work. Initially I thought that subject may be along the lines of wellness coaching, but I found myself increasingly being interested in the ripple effect of coaching.

By the end of my second year, I’d signed up to complete the MA."

🎓Our morning speaker is Professor Kishan Devani BEM, FRSA (PG Dipl Religious Education, 2014).

“To the University of Warwick, to the dedicated faculty, and to the enduring community here: thank you for giving a young scholar the wings to fly. You didn't just offer me a world-class higher education; you handed me the keys to the world itself.”

For this edition of , Jenny shares how researching the impact of endometriosis on career development became one of the most rewarding parts of her Master's journey.

"Starting my dissertation with the Centre for Lifelong Learning was honestly quite daunting! It had been over a decade since my undergraduate dissertation, and I was completely new to social science research, especially qualitative methods, methodologies, and the language of research. I felt very nervous at the beginning and unsure how I would manage it.

Despite that, it turned out to be one of the most rewarding parts of my Master’s programme. I researched how endometriosis can impact career development, and it became both an academic and personal journey. It helped me reflect on my own career path and how endometriosis has shaped it, while also broadening my understanding of how others navigate similar experiences. My dissertation research also opened my eyes to the nuanced and highly subjective intersection between health and career, and wider implications for careers practice and workplace support (particularly how important it is for employers and practitioners to recognise fluctuating health conditions and provide more flexible, informed support).

I’m incredibly grateful to my personal tutor, lecturers, and especially my dissertation supervisor, who was endlessly patient and supportive with me. They responded to my many panicked emails, took the time to explain concepts I was finding difficult to grasp initially, and guided me step-by-step from developing the research idea through to final drafts of individual chapters.

I genuinely feel so grateful to the University of Warwick and the Centre for Lifelong Learning for giving me the space to explore something so personal and so under-researched, for allowing me to learn from the knowledge of experts in the careers field, and for supporting me through a process that has genuinely changed how I see myself, my own career, and how I support the career development of others. Thank you Warwick!"

Every dissertation journey is different. For , we're spotlighting the experiences of our students and graduates the challenges they faced, the lessons they learned, and where their dissertations have taken them since.

This week, Suzanna Tan shares how an unexpected change in direction became one of the most rewarding experiences of her academic and professional journey.

"My dissertation journey at the Centre for Lifelong Learning became a valuable learning experience. I began with a clear plan to research a topic I was interested in, but when every potential participant became unavailable, I suddenly found myself without a topic and time was ticking. Then, in a moment that felt like Happenstance Theory in motion, a chance conversation with a friend opened a completely new path. It was a topic I would never have considered, yet I felt drawn to trust the opportunity. My supervisor, supported me with patience and challenge, helping me navigate the ethics process again and guiding me through academic writing that felt so unfamiliar after twenty-five years in the corporate world. I cannot pretend I enjoyed every part of the process, yet his support helped me discover new strengths and reminded me that sometimes the work we find uncomfortable is the work that grows us the most.

What I learned through the dissertation stayed with me long after. The process was demanding, yet it taught me how to research deeply, write with clarity and work with discipline. Those skills became the foundation that allowed me to self-publish my first book (based on my original dissertation topic) and later publish Positive Approaches to Conflict at Work with Routledge. Completing my dissertation enabled me to gain my master’s, which set me on the path to being a career coach, executive coach, coach tutor, coach supervisor and author. Some might argue that you do not need a master’s to do all of that, but I know for certain that I would never have added author to that list without the rigour of the dissertation. The topic itself may not have matched my professional path, but the journey strengthened me, shaped me and affirmed something every coach understands well. Growth often comes from the opportunities we never planned for, the courage to say yes to them and the trust to push ourselves so far out of our comfort zone that we have no choice but to go for it."

The University of Warwick was proud to host the three-day UALL (Universities Association for Lifelong Learning) & SCUTREA Conference 2026, centred on the theme, Reimagining Lifelong Learning in Higher Education.

A highlight of the conference dinner was hearing from our alumnus, Attal, who shared reflections on his journey in Higher Education as both a learner and a practitioner. It was wonderful to welcome him back and celebrate his continued contributions to lifelong learning.

Congratulations to Ruth Hewston and Nalita James from Warwick's Centre for Lifelong Learning, recipients of the Sustainability UALL Award, in recognition of their outstanding contribution to sustainability in lifelong learning.

You can read the full story here: https://tinyurl.com/mspuz4yd