'The best things in life are often hard': Caroline Quentin offers fresh update about being at university in her 60s

Earlier this year, actress Caroline Quentin announced that nearly 50 years after leaving school, she was returning to university at the age of 66.

Speaking to Woman & Home magazine shortly after making her exciting announcement, Caroline was asked whether she had an unfulfilled ambition.

"Yes, but I'm about to fulfil it," she shared, adding, "This autumn, I'm starting a postgraduate diploma in the history of art at the Courtauld Institute, it's the course of my dreams."

After leaving school with "a couple of O Levels," the actress added told us that her husband and children are "so supportive," and although she was nervous, she knew "the best things in life are often hard."

With her start date now here, Caroline has spoken to Lorraine Kelly on her talk show with an update about the pride, joy - and nerves - she has for her first day.

Telling the host that she "went straight to work" after finishing school, Caroline says that "people just assume you've had a university education."

"I left school at 16 with very few qualifications, I wasn't very good in the classroom," Caroline explains, adding that this wasn't because she was badly behaved, but instead, she was easily "distracted."

Sharing her feelings about beginning her university journey, the Men Behaving Badly actress becomes emotional. "I always want to cry when I talk about it, it's so ridiculous," she shares.

After a pause, Caroline says proudly that where she'll be studying "is a centre of world excellence."

As part of the application process, she needed to write an essay, sharing, "I haven't written an essay since I was 16," and it was "quite a big essay," as well as filling in a form.

The actress says the university is very "selective" about who it lets in and as she scored a place she is "so proud of myself."

Her two children, Rose and William, had cheered her on to complete the application, urging, "Go on mum, you've always wanted to do it."

After she "worked quite hard on the essay" and secured a place, the next challenge is the daunting first week.

"I've got Freshers' Week next week," she laughs, joking that her son had told her to make sure she uses her student card "to get cheap pints" followed by her "OAP pass to get the free night bus home."

Caroline shares, "I've learnt a lot as an actor about history, and working with language, but my real passion has always been art."

She concludes triumphantly, "And I'm going to do that."

When the clip of the conversation was shared to Instagram, it gathered hundreds of comments of support, and stories from those sharing their own later in life university experiences.

One person wrote, "I did my masters aged 50 and I'm now on a second career because of it. This year I’m 60 and looking forward to studying again when I retire. Lifelong learning is good for the soul, it makes me emotional too."

Another added, "I put off my writing ambitions (four decades of teaching took up all of my time and energy) but became a novelist aged 62. I'm currently working on my 10th book - you're never too old to follow a dream."