Mum-of-three 'truly proud' after passing GCSEs

Charlotte Osborne said teaching history or sociology would be her "dream" career

A mother-of-three from Devon has said she is eyeing a "dream" career in teaching after passing four GCSEs.

Charlotte Osborne, 33, achieved GCSEs in maths, English, sociology and biology - 18 years after failing her exams as a teenager after lacking what she said was a "stable home environment".

Ms Osborne - who got a grade four, two fives and a six - said it was "never too late to go back to GCSEs".

"My 15-year-old self would be more surprised that I enjoyed it, not that I had done it," she said.

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Ms Osborne has a 15-year-old son, as well as two daughters who are 12 and five.

She said she decided to take her GCSEs as an adult so she could help her children with their homework because she "couldn't find a job that I wanted to do".

But she said she found the process "really difficult", particularly as she has dyslexia.

"All you need is one person willing to support you and for me that was my partner Tom," she said.

She took the Realise your Potential programme at South Devon College, which involves maths, English and a science GCSE as well as one other subject.

"I think it might be the first time I actually been truly proud of something I have achieved by myself," she said.

"I had to prioritise and put the children first and, once they were in bed, I could study."

Teachers were 'brilliant'

Speaking about the first time she took her GCSEs, she said she had problems at home and "really negative relationships" with teachers.

She admitted feeling worried she would be the "oldest there, that the teachers would treat me like a child or be as horrible as when I was in secondary school".

In fact, the teachers turned out to be "brilliant", she said.

"The teachers were so supportive and I wouldn’t have got through it if they hadn’t been so amazing," she said.

Ms Osborne now plans to take an access to higher education course before studying to become a history or sociology teacher in a secondary school.

"I want to help teenagers that don't have great relationships with teachers," she said.