“Having never passed an exam, I wanted to prove I could, so I enrolled in university in my 70s”

“My mother always told me I’d find my place, but that I’d be a late developer. That deep belief she instilled in me all those years ago gave me the confidence I needed to take on a degree course aged 74,” reflects Judith Porter.

“Entering education for the first time in one’s eighth decade is a little unusual, I suppose, but it’s been the most wonderfully rewarding experience. I’m about to do my fourth exhibition, and I’ve made some great friends working collaboratively with fellow students.

“I’m in my element hanging out with the younger artists as we all learn so much from each other, and they’ve completely accepted me into the course. It’s such a compliment when they say to me, ‘I hope I’m like you when I get to your age.’

“It’s incredible to think that when I was their age, I was already working full-time. But I never regretted not completing my education when younger. My family needed me, and family will always be my priority.”

Leaving school, straight into work

“As the second eldest of eight children, I was 15 and away at boarding school when my father wrote to say my mother was unwell and I was needed to help run our family business, a hotel in South East England. I didn’t think twice and returned home straight away, leaving school without a single qualification, whilst all my friends finished their O-Levels.

“Having subsequently moved to the North of England, my father realised his lifelong dream of owning a Freehouse, where I worked until I married my late husband Duncan in 1970. I still have the sign for ‘Judy’s bar’, which my father named after me, on the wall in my kitchen.

“I found full-time work as a personal assistant after I married and made good progress through roles in two different companies.

“Whilst it was always a niggle that I’d not been able to sit any exams, with my career going well, it never dawned on me to consider going back to college.

“After my father’s sudden death in a car accident, five years after I married, I was entrusted to run the Freehouse myself, so again any thoughts of returning to education were put on the back burner.”

Pursuing my passions

“Art had always been a passion even at school, so I indulged my creative streak by taking night classes in everything from flower arranging to china painting and needlepoint. I love making things with my hands, and over those years, I learned to work across a vast spectrum of materials.

“In 2010, my husband passed away and, having recently retired, I found myself rather at a loss for what to do. I’d always been a keen cyclist and took on some wonderful long rides with close friends, even making it as far as Belgium, Switzerland and The Netherlands.

“But after a while, I realised I couldn’t just spend the next stage of my life floating around on a bike. I needed to do something more worthwhile with my time, and that urge to prove I could pass an exam became ever stronger.”

Never too late to learn

“I’d built up a dossier of work from all the night classes, so, buoyed with that inner confidence my mother had instilled in me all those years ago, I applied to do an Art Foundation Course aged 72. Better late than never, I figured! I was both shocked and delighted when I was accepted. Now, I’m about to complete my Master's Degree in Fine Art.

“It was terribly hard losing Duncan after almost 40 years of very happy marriage, but being a single student with no dependents leaves me free to do what I want when I want. I’m able to spend hours on end moulding the abstract skulls and paintings inspired by fractal patterns in nature, which I’ve created for my new exhibition.

“And I’ve also thoroughly enjoyed taking on an artist residency in Finland and an exchange to Norway in the last few years.”

Judith Porter the graduate

“It hasn’t all been easy. I can get stressed as the essay deadlines pile up, but the upside is getting to do the thing I love every day, and my hunger to learn new techniques and use new mediums is as strong as ever.

“That moment when I realised I had passed my course and picked up my degree was very special - an achievement I would never have predicted for myself 60 years ago.

“I’ve no intention of stopping now and haven’t ruled out the possibility of pursuing a PhD in the future.”