Honours for 89-year-old student

By Marie Jackson
BBC News education reporter

William Cooper spent £4,000 on his degree

A great-grandfather has graduated with an honours degree in sociology, days ahead of his 90th birthday.

After six years of part-time study, widower William Cooper, 89, gained a lower-second-class degree from Wolverhampton University.

He said his last experience of formal education, at Wolverhampton Grammar School in the 1920s, had prepared him well for his latest challenge.

"I was used to attending every day. So for six years, I didn't miss an hour."

'Snooze and you lose'

Mr Cooper had been retired from his job as a chief wages cashier for more than 20 years when his daughter-in-law first suggested he went to university.

"It's very difficult when you become a widower," said Mr Cooper, whose wife Dorothy died in 1995.

The young ones were rather dumb as far as speaking up was concerned, but I induced them to follow suit William Cooper

"You can snooze in a chair all afternoon but you have to push yourself to get going."

He had already taken up cookery classes, computing and keep fit, but a sociology degree gave him the excuse for a good argument, he said.

Asked what he would do with his degree, he said: "Nothing really. It's just a thing to pass retirement.

"But I proved to myself that I was as good as the rest and I got a certain amount of satisfaction that I had not wasted my time.

"I asked a lot of questions. The young ones were rather dumb as far as speaking up was concerned, but I induced them to follow suit.

"Lecturers told me I got my degree through persistence."

'Only a whim'

Mr Cooper, of Wednesfield in Wolverhampton, said that while he could not always remember people's names, his memory was still intact and technology had not proved an obstacle.

"I'm computer literate. We had computers where I worked in the 70s, although they were huge."

The degree cost Mr Cooper £4,000.

"I suppose it's only fair that people like me pay who are not going to give anything back. It's only really a whim."

Once the graduation ceremony and next month's birthday celebrations are over, Mr Cooper is considering an Alpha Bible study course.

"So I can prepare for the next life," he said.