Derek Martin-Stead 

Hi, I'm Derek.

I'm currently doing an HND in Software Development at Fife College.

I started at Fife College in 2021 after my health stopped me working, and I decided I could either sit and do nothing at home or actually move into a different career that would allow me to do it with the conditions that I have, and Fife College had the right course for me, which is Software Development.

I started at the lowest level because although I've used computers all my life, I didn't really know how they processed everything in the background, how to sort them when they went wrong. Always had to call external companies in for that!

So I decided it was time that I actually go into that field, and I started here at Level 4, and I've worked my way up. This is my fifth academic year at Fife College. The experience I've had here has just been absolutely amazing. The support you get from the lecturers is outstanding. I can't fault any of my lecturers that I have here. They've supported me with not only the course, but also the conditions that I have to ensure that I'm included in everything that happens at Fife College.

Things that I've enjoyed on the course would be learning the different  software that I need to use for programming, things like Python and C++,PHP for our web pages and stuff like that. Also learning how to change RAM in a computer or a CPU, all the different components within the insides of a computer. But also getting to meet people from all areas. Lots of people in my class are a lot younger than I am, but I do have some people that are a bit older. We just seem to mesh very well because we've all got different experiences that work well in groups and things like that.

So, yeah, it's meeting people, learning new skills, and just the atmosphere in the College. It's a fun place to be. It's not like school at all. As I say, the lecturers are there to help. They're very approachable, and they're very knowledgeable about their subjects as well.

One of the good things about Fife College is they do have ways to support you, and a lot of this is through the Scholarship Programme that they provide, where every year there are lots of different scholarships for different courses that can help you financially. And one of the scholarships that I have recently won would be the Edinburgh Napier University Scholarship, and that's a combination between Fife College and Napier University, so over the next four years, they'll give me a financial award as long as I progress on to the next year of the course, which I plan to do once I leave here. After this year, I'll be going to Napier University to do my Honours Degree.

The overall experience at Fife College for me has been exceptional. As I said earlier, the lecturers are friendly, they help you any way they can. The only thing they ask is that you put in as much effort as they are when you're learning your subjects. As I say, the atmosphere here is fantastic. Everybody's trying to help, not just the lecturers, but you've got the other support staff like Inclusion and Guidance. They're all fantastic to work with.

I'd highly recommend Fife College to anybody who's looking to either change their career or just looking for something to get them out of the house.

Related Courses

This course addresses Scotland's shortage of software developers, offering an introduction to software development with a focus on various subjects and skills. Participants gain current technical skills and knowledge in programming and system development, and learn to design and implement software solutions using multiple languages and technologies.