College News

Former QE student sends good signals

Staff and students at QE have relished the opportunity to hear from another former student about their fantastic experiences beyond College. Matty Leadbeatter studied English Language, Media Studies and PE at QE and also played for the College’s football teams. ‘I enjoyed my time at QE’, he comments. ‘The freedom that College life provided was something that I really appreciated’. Matty now works as a Signaller for Network Rail running train services in the Darlington, Newcastle, Gateshead and Sunderland areas. He explains: ‘I used to teach Sport and realise that this may seem like a drastic career change, however the company have been fantastic and provided me with excellent opportunities and rewards. Every day is completely different as we are tasked with dealing with regulating trains, disrupted services, trespassers, organising engineering work, adverse weather conditions and more!’

Following his A Levels, Matty progressed to Northumbria University where he completed a degree in Sports Development with Coaching. He then returned to QE as a Student Support Mentor and obtained his teaching qualification before moving on to teach Sport and Fitness at Tyne Metropolitan College. During his time there, Matty spent a year in Qatar as Head of PE in an international school which allowed him to gain a wealth of experience.

Matty’s advice for current QE students is: ‘When starting College you do not have to know what you would like to do for the rest of your life. If you don’t have a clear plan, try and choose subjects that you enjoy and you’ll be able to discover new ideas and opportunities. At 18 years old, I’d never heard of my current job role; in fact I’d never heard of it until I applied! Good luck to everyone and enjoy your time at College’.

If you are a former student and have a story to share, we would love to hear from you. If you could email qe@qeliz.ac.uk with your details, a member of staff will be in touch.