A DAD from Taunton is graduating with a first-class honours degree from the University of South Wales (USW) after a 13-year break from his studies.

Straight after school, Lewis Bellringer got a place on a football coaching course at USW (then University of Glamorgan) where he met his girlfriend, Chloe, when she was working behind the Students’ Union bar.

When they were both in their second year, they found out that Chloe was pregnant and suddenly they needed to reconsider their future.

Lewis decided to postpone university to gain employment. He did leave with a foundation degree but didn’t attend his graduation, instead choosing to spend the money on baby essentials.

Lewis was 20 when he became a dad and admits it was the best and scariest thing to ever happen to him.

He said: “You are never ready to have a baby. I didn’t even know how to turn on a washing machine, never mind change a nappy.”

“I'd always planned to come back and finish the degree, but life is life. My career took off, we had our daughter, and my priority was earning money for our family.”

It was a surprise redundancy in 2023 that made Lewis reconsider the football coaching degree.

“I thought, if I don't do it now, I will never do it. So I applied for the BSc Community Football Coaching and Administration (top up),” he said.

“Within 24 hours I was accepted, and I couldn’t believe it.”

“Obviously, I still needed to get a job because I have two kids, a partner, and a dog to feed, but I was very open in all my interviews.

"I assured them that I was going back to university but felt confident that I could commit to a full-time job and full-time study.”

Juggling all his responsibilities was not easy but Lewis likes a challenge.

“Taking up the opportunity to come back to USW turned out to be one of the best things for my own personal development.

“It shows, to potential employers, that I'm happy to take a leap of faith. I'm happy to get out of my comfort zone."

Based mostly at Bristol City Football Club, Lewis also attended residentials at USW with other sports students.

When asked if he noticed the age difference with his classmates, he said: “I really enjoyed the residentials and meeting lots of new people.

“I think that being a more mature, confident person helped with that. Though whatever age we are, we all bring different experiences with us, which we can all learn from.”

Lewis worried that his writing skills wouldn’t be up to scratch but he soon overcame his nerves with hard work and perseverance.

He said: “I treated my studies like a second job. I set the time aside and I would read, read, read some more, and ask lots of questions.

“My lecturers were fantastic in replying quickly to my, sometimes random, emails.

He said: “So much can be said for just reading your work through. My advice to any student would be to proofread your work at least twice.

“It could be the difference between two or three marks, which could be the difference between a first and a 2:1.

“Now I consider proofreading, writing, and grammar as some of my key strengths. You clearly can teach an old dog new tricks.”