THE VOICE played a pivotal part in the success of a Birmingham student who had dropped out of study but has since set off to university.

Father Norman McFarlane was reading our pages when he came across education expert Eric Mitchell, a former Ofsted inspector turned private tutor.

He sensed that Mitchell could hold the key to his daughter Valetta, then
17, recovering after failing A-level biology and chemistry exams, which dashed her dreams of becoming a heart surgeon.

“The funny thing was that I knew Eric,” he said. “We had mutual friends but I didn’t realise he was the ‘Maths Maverick’ he was reported as being. We looked him up and took it from there.”

Two years of one-to-one coaching and encouragement at Mitchell’s nearby Sankore Education facility helped Valetta gain A grades in chemistry, biology and psychology, with a B in maths at A-level.

Valetta has now set off to begin studying for a degree in biomedical science at Kingston University.

“Eric broke the subjects down for me,” said Valetta, now 20. “I had lost my confidence but I would say to everyone to always believe that you can achieve. I had to put in the hard work and I am so glad for my parents’ support.”

McFarlane added: “It’s all about the family unit for us. My wife Sharon and I always wanted our children to strive to reach higher than we have.

I’ve done manual work, security, cleaning, whatever to ensure the finance is there to support them.

“We see what’s going on in the community and we want
better for them.”

Mitchell said: “Sankore’s ethos is ‘every child is a gift and every child comes with a gift’. Because I know this to be true, my job is to extract these gifts from the children but it takes a particular kind of knowledge, understanding and skills.”