Former Big Issue seller to start Literature degree at Cambridge

Former Big Issue seller, Geoff Edwards, 52, has begun his English Literature course at Hughes Hall, Cambridge.

Edwards left his high school in Liverpool, with two O-levels in maths and English Language and a “U” grade in English Literature before moving away from his home town with no desire to pursue higher education. He told The Guardian: “I didn’t know anyone who stayed on or went to university. People didn’t back then.”

He moved across the country, working mainly on farms in places such as Kent, Gloucestershire, Scotland and then Cambridge, living in a mixture of squats and camping along the way.

Throughout this, Mr Edwards found solace in books, carrying on a lifelong passion for reading that was ingrained in him by his parents from a young age. Between his work he picked up books in charity shops and libraries and described reading for him as “a brilliant way of escaping.”

I didn’t know anyone who stayed on or went to university. People didn’t back then.
Geoff Edwards

While in Cambridge he began to sell the Big Issue, which he said helped him gain some sense of self-respect. After a few years of this he was eventually housed, but his suffering of depression and feeling of isolation worsened, prompting him to re-evaluate his life.

Geoff said: “It is the first thing I am proud of in my life.” His story has been shared thousands of times online and warmed the hearts of even the most critical of the country’s education system.

“I knew I was in a rut and I decided to do something with my life. I thought about how to address it and decided education was the way, so I went to an open day at Cambridge Regional College. I wanted to get the qualifications to do English at university but I’d had a long time out of education and I only had Maths and English O levels, so I needed to do a gateway course.”

He began a gateway course at Cambridge Regional College, which led to an access course, in which he was awarded a distinction for every single subject.

Having started his studies last month, Geoff told The Guardian that the work is a big step up from the access course but he is looking forward to the challenge.

It is the first thing I am proud of in my life.
Geoff Edwards

Oxbridge has recently come under fire for failing to encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds. Last year, chair of the Social Mobililty and Child Poverty Commission and former Labour minister, Alan Milburn, criticised Cambridge’s introduction of admissions tests for all subjects, citing that they would disadvantage poorer students.

Labour MP, David Lammy, lobbied last month for the two top universities to give lower grade offers to working class students.

The Big Issue is a newspaper charity written by professional journalists and distributed by the homeless.