Noah Nutkins

Why did you choose to study at North Devon College?
I chose to study at North Devon College after my family moved down from the Midlands and it was a good option travel wise.

What did you study?
I studied A Level Maths, Physics, Chemistry and then in my second year I added Further Maths. I also did an Extended Project Qualification.

Who was your favourite lecturer?
I liked all my lecturers a lot. My physics lecturer, Dave Waters, was very fun. My maths lecturer, who was also my personal tutor, Gemma Quick and also my chemistry lecturer, Debbie was great. They are all very wonderful people, who supported me throughout my course.

What’s the top tip you would give your year 11 self?
To my year 11 self i would say keep your eye on the ball, discipline will be a big thing. Distractions like youtube and gaming will be a major challenge you’re going to have to face, so removing things like the short form content is very important because that’s been shown to reduce attentions spans, try to avoid scrolling indefinitely, things like that and you’ll save the hours and you’ll be less stressed later down the line when you’re near exams.

What’s been the best part of your college experience?
I basically liked all of it, the lecturers I really took to. One of my biggest highlights was in my second year we built a plane, that was good fun. We also went on this physics trip down to Cern to look at the Large Hadron Collider, which was all good fun.

What course are you doing now and where is this going to take you?
So I’m now studying at the University of Southampton, studying Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering with Spacecraft Engineering, or more colloquially Aerospace Engineering. I’m in my third year of my four year course, as there’s an industrial placement year and I’m off to the Boeing Simulator Engineering team to work with them for a year and gain experience. After my course I’ll be back to industry and if I’m lucky I’ll be back in the Simulator Engineering team and if not I’ll be somewhere else in the industry, possibly in the spacecraft industry – we’ll have to see how things go!