Paul Watt

Paul graduated in 2022 achieving a Master of Engineering in Computer Science with distinction. He has secured a position as Graduate Software Engineer with J.P. Morgan.

This really would not have been possible without the financial support provided by yourselves so thank you so much for all the help! I come from a low-income family so would have had to have worked part-time alongside studying at university to be able to afford the tuition fees, which would have drastically reduced the amount of time I could spend learning about computer science, so I definitely would not have been able to achieve as high a degree classification without your support.

The University of Strathclyde run a programme called Accelerate where high school students from widening access backgrounds attend university for a week to experience studying at university. I have been fortunate enough to be a mentor since I joined Strathclyde in 2017. It was such an enjoyable and rewarding experience and it also helped develop my own confidence as well as communication, teamwork and leadership skills. I am really passionate about education and ensuring young people have the best opportunities in life. This programme runs in the last week of June. If I had had to work during the Summer, I would not have been able to become a mentor, so the financial support you provided not only allowed me to focus more on studying but also to participate in amazing initiatives like Accelerate.