A change of heart over her degree subject put University of Kent student Lisa-Marie Goodwin on course for clearing last year.

The 20-year-old, from Maidstone, was in the first year of a business studies course at the University of Greenwich when she began to reconsider her options.

She said:"My first degree was fine in many respects, but I began to realise that my heart was in much more into music, especially when I started looking thinking about my career plans.

"The turning point was after I attended a live Radio One show in Brighton. It gave me a tremendous buzz and I knew that this was a turning point for me. I had to do something in the music industry - maybe on the production side, as a sound engineer or work in radio as a presenter or researcher.

"I realised I would have to train for this type of career, and so I started to look for degree courses that would get me on to the first rungs of the ladder. I have been learning the saxophone for many years, but that was the extent of my musical know-how a year ago."

Lisa-Marie didn’t have to search for long before she found a degree course that ticked all the boxes - namely Music Technology, based at the University of Kent’s Medway campus. A lecturer told Lisa-Marie about the programme, and after doing some web-based research, including scanning the UCAS listings, she made an appointment with the Music Technology course director.

"Everything fell into place quickly once I decided to change direction.

"The Music Technology studios and facilities are just amazing, and I got really excited - not just about the course, but about working in the industry in some way. The knowledge and the experience of the tutors was really impressive too. I’d not felt this kind of passion for my business course, so I knew I was making a good move."

Lisa-Marie had to apply through clearing last August as she made her application late in the day.

"I rang Kent’s clearing hotline and was put through to the admissions tutor after that.

"The clearing hotline advisers I spoke to were Kent students themselves, and had been through the process themselves. They quickly helped me relax and sort out my application. It was nice to be dealing with people of the same age, who understood what it’s like to go through clearing - they knew I was feeling anxious and was in a hurry to know whether I had a place."

It was music to Lisa-Marie’s ears after she was offered a place at Kent, and she hasn’t looked back since.

"I’ve just passed my first end-of-year exams, and so I’m a step closer to my dream of working in the music industry. I’ve had to work really hard and believe in myself, but I’m determined this will be second time lucky."