Student life in Bangor

Police Sergeant swaps his uniform for a cap and gown

Alan Jones A Police Sergeant from Conwy has his “lifetime ambition realised” as he graduates from Bangor University with a degree in Law.

Alan Jones, 47, who is a serving Police Sergeant with 28 years service, having served in London and North Wales, as well as holding a number of national posts, has gained an upper second class LLB (Hons) degree from the University. As part of his current duties and responsibilities he is working within a drafting team tasked with developing a new policy document for the police service in England and Wales.

Explaining why he chose to study at Bangor, he said, “I was offered a place at Manchester University but I was given to understand that the law course at Bangor was well regarded with very good tuition and this convinced me to re-apply which was the right decision.”

Alan continued to work full-time as a police sergeant throughout his studies. He added,

“Realistically, this was one of the hardest aspects of the whole course, maintaining a balance in my home, work and academic life required really good time management and some deft thinking together with some very good friends.”

“My biggest challenge was maintaining a professional work life balance ensuring that my work targets were met and delivered in a timely fashion and that I produced quality work that would stand up to proper scrutiny.”

Alan is now looking forward to starting a postgraduate law course, the LLM, starting in September. He has been awarded a Bramshill Police College Fellowship to assist with his studies. He added,

“I have an aspiration to be called to the Bar; however, I have been giving some serious consideration to the thought of giving something back to my community as an academic lawyer as I have benefited from a career within the Criminal Justice System.”

As a mature student at Bangor, who’s managed to gain a degree while working full time, Alan has some advice for others thinking of going back to higher education:

“If anyone is thinking of mature study, bite the bullet and just do it!”