Teenage scrap ends student’s ambition

A mother with 20 years’ experience in social care and voluntary
work was thrown off a social work degree course because she
neglected to mention a playground fight when she was a
teenager.

Jane Anderton, 40, began her studies for the three-year BA at
Greenwich University in London but was kicked out after three
weeks.

She had completed a Criminal Records Bureau check but forgot to
declare in a separate university form a fight with a school friend
when she was 16. Both girls appeared in court and were bound over
to keep the peace for one year.

Anderton has now been told she can return to university next
September. But she is so disillusioned that she has abandoned her
ambition to get the degree, describing the university’s actions as
“punishment for punishment’s sake”.

A spokesperson for the university said social work degree students
were required to disclose criminal convictions when they applied
and during their interview or face removal from the course.

Rehabilitation charity Nacro said it was “appalling” that a
suitable and able individual could have their career development
put on hold because of “ill-informed and discriminatory
decision-making”.