Sophie Harris

Mature Students Officer

Hi everyone. My name is Sophie and I am running to be the Officer for Mature Students. I was officer last year for Mature Students and Postgraduates and really enjoyed the role. I am a Creative Writing mature student myself who came back into education in my late 20’s and have found it both an amazing experience but also a daunting one. I have learnt a lot in the past year about things that could help change the uni lives for mature students and have many ideas I would like to try and implement to get a better experience for all those who fall under this category. Mature students can find the process a lot harder due to their circumstances (Work, family commitments as well as anxiety at being a mature student). I want to ensure we are involved and integrated as I believe every student matters and we all deserve to have a great experience while we are at university.


Here are some points which I feel are important and will strive to achieve:

• More integration within the university and events.
• More events tailored to mature students and events which cater to as many people as possible while working around other life commitments.
• More social events both on campus and off campus.
• Ensure that academic help is still widely available for mature students who are normally returning to education.
• Using things I have learnt on study abroad to ensure Roehampton mature students get more out of their university experience.
• To try and fix the confusion between mature student boundaries.
• Having a meet and greet session at the start of the year and hopefully frequently during the year. (Once a month for example).

I have so many ideas to try and implement and I am always glad to listen to any that students may have themselves. Vote for me and I will work hard to try and get a better all round experience for mature students and bridge the gap that currently still exists.