York College? Completed it, mate! Meet Kaitlin - our degree graduate who progressed from Level 1 to 6

If anybody can lay claim to those three words, it’s our inspirational 2025 Graduation Progression Award winner Kaitlin Lewis-Kirby.

Kaitlin enrolled at College six years ago with no enthusiasm for furthering her education, having struggled at high school with dyscalculia – a learning difficulty that means words and numbers “move around” when she tries to focus on them.

Looking back, she admits that she only chose to come to York College to study Level 1 Hairdressing & Beauty Therapy at the age of 16 because she “had to do something”. 

She left campus this summer, however, at the age of 22 with a BA (Hons) Media Make-up, Special Effects and Hair Design degree, a prestigious College award, plans to do a Master’s and aspirations to work in London’s West End!

That incredible journey from Level 1 to Level 6 has not come without significant challenges, too.

Aside from her dyscalculia condition, Kaitlin started her Sim Balk Lane studies in 2019/20 – the academic year when the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

It was during her final year, though, that Kaitlin had to contend with an unimaginably series of sad and tragic circumstances that, understandably, led to her doubting whether she could complete her degree.

Having lost three people close to her in quick succession – her best friend and two family members - Kaitlin found herself in hospital due to her mental health and, then, her mum, who is registered disabled, was diagnosed with cancer.  

With the support of her tutors Emma Dobson and Sharon Barrington, though, she returned after taking a month-long break from the course and, happily, got to celebrate her graduation in the wonderful surroundings of York Minster with her family and boyfriend last week.

On that uplifting achievement, Kaitlin said: “It felt amazing to graduate. Throughout the whole six years, I’ve been through a lot.

“I’ve been at College from the age of 16 to 22 now, which seems mad, but it’s finally come to an end and the Minster is such a great building to graduate in. I got a 2:2, which I was expecting. 

“After what I went through during the final year, though, it was looking like I would get a Third but, with my tutors’ help, I managed to get higher. In fact, without Emma and Sharon, I wouldn’t have graduated - I’m 100% certain of that. 

“I felt I was done halfway through my final year and that I couldn’t do this anymore. I had a whole month off in January but, in February, I had a meeting with them and they said, ‘No, you’ve got this. We know you can do it’ and, after they had encouraged me to come back, it didn’t feel daunting at all. It meant so much for them to believe in me.”

Reflecting on the catalogue of events that would have extended most people to breaking point, Kaitlin added: “I lost my best friend due to mental health in September (2024). That was really hard and I’ve faced my own mental health trials as well.

“I was in hospital at one point when I was really struggling but my tutors and family got me through that and I always kept in touch with my tutors. They always knew what was going on. 

“That was my biggest hurdle and, then, I lost two more people who were close to me. I lost one on the Sunday and on the next day – the Monday – the other one was gone. 

“Then, my Mum got diagnosed with cancer. Luckily, she’s alright now, but that was just another thing and it’s been one thing after another.

“Even the tutors said to me, ‘You can’t get a break’. I was a carer for my mum as well, because she is registered disabled and, although she isn’t too bad, she does have bad days when I needed to look after her and my younger siblings.

“My mum would never let that affect my course and Emma and Sharon were really understanding if there were days when I couldn’t go in. They would send me the work and always asked if everything was OK and if I was OK as well.

“They also asked if there was anything they could do to help. You could have that personal relationship with them and talk to them if you didn’t feel OK rather than being just a number, because I had friends at other unis where their tutors didn’t even know if they were in class or not. 

“They had very different experiences to mine. If we were not there, our tutors would notice straight away and I trusted them 100%.”

That bond between Kaitlin and her tutors was also a key factor behind her decision to keep progressing on her educational journey with York College year after year.

“I have quite bad anxiety so, if I go to new places on my own, it can be a bit daunting but, with staying in one place, the tutors knew me and everything felt more personal,” she explained. “I gained a relationship with the tutors, rather than going somewhere else where they wouldn’t have known me.

“The tutors at College even helped us with personal issues and I wouldn’t have had that same relationship if I’d have gone somewhere else. I also didn’t enjoy high school and my attitude, when I enrolled at college, was I’m only going because I have to, but I really enjoyed it and just kept deciding to stay on.

“If you ask any of my high school teachers, they’ll tell you that I always said uni wasn’t for me but, when I finished my Level 3 course, I thought, ‘No, I’m going to do it’. 

“I’ve gone from Level 1 to Level 6, because I enjoyed the courses I was doing and Beauty Therapy and Media Make-up are very linked. You do the same practices.”

College support, as well as that of her family, also helped ensure that dyscalculia wasn’t a barrier to Kaitlin’s progression.

She resat and passed her English GCSE at College, with a number of interventions put in place to aid her education. 

“With my dyscalculia, words and numbers move when I look at them, so I can’t see them properly,” she explained. “But Emma always made sure I had the right colour paper that I needed. 

“I need to see things on pink paper so, if I see something on white paper, I use a pink highlighter and get my friend to highlight the words or numbers to stop them moving. My mum also sat with me at home and highlighted stuff and we have a whole collection of pink highlighters at home! 

“I also struggled with changing from writing in the first person to third person, but Emma put me and others in touch with a Teaching Assistant, who helped with our academic writing during weekly one-on-one sessions. I can’t tell time on an analogue clock, either, and Emma connected a laptop to the screen, so I could see a digital clock. 

“Little things like that made a big difference and the tutors always fought my case if I needed something. I’ve always believed my learning disability doesn’t need to affect what I do. 

“If you let it, it will but, if you don’t, it won’t and I was never going to let it stop me achieving what I wanted to do. I’ve also learned how to deal with it in my own way.”

Despite Covid interrupting her Level 1 studies, Kaitlin points out, meanwhile, that she still uses the skills she acquired during her first College course. 

“My boyfriend has got quite long hair, so he’s a good model for keeping up those skills,” she laughed. “I cut his hair and I cut my neighbour’s little girl’s hair, because she has quite bad anxiety and doesn’t like going to the hairdressers.”

Despite all the heartache she endured during her final year on the York School of Art course, Kaitlin also regarded College as a place of refuge from her troubles.

“We were always laughing in class,” she said. “I loved that atmosphere and the freedom of creating my own project. That was different to just following modules, but we were still learning without feeling that we were learning.”

Graduating from a department that nurtured the talents of an Oscar winner (Nadia Stacey), Emmy winner (Freda Ellis) and BAFTA winner (Lisa Parkinson) – all of whom won those awards as recently as 2024 – has given Kaitlin the confidence, meanwhile, to pursue her own dreams in the industry. 

“Their success is so inspiring,” she enthused. “It makes me just want to jump and go on to a film set right now and do it, because I want that.

“I want to be that alumni and have Sharon and Emma saying, ‘This is my student that I taught’. I’m applying for jobs now and have been working voluntarily at events.

“I also did my little sister’s prom make-up and have done some wedding make-up. It’s all good experience.

“Doing the degree, I now know that my passion lies in special effects, wig making and prosthetics. It’s what I feel comfortable in and it’s what I want to do.

“I want to do theatre work in London, so I’m looking at applying for jobs there. I want to experience that.”

Despite her mid-teens aversion to education, meanwhile, Kaitlin is not quite ready to pack away the pink highlighters yet, even if she can’t progress any further with York College.

“I want to do a Master’s and I’ve looked at places in London to do that,” she declared. “I want to get some experience first and, then, I’m 100% going to do it.”

To learn more about our BA (Hons) Media Make-up, Special Effects and Hair Design course, please click here

Information on our full range of York School of Art courses can be found here

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