Higher Education and Further Education Progression Story
Be inspired by Zak’s Further Education progression journey.
Discover how he made a massive impact within his local community and school after being accepted at Harvard University.
In his Further Education progression video below, Zak expresses how he would like to change the perspective for students and help encourage and support them throughout their journey and come to the realisation ‘If he did it, why can’t I?’
Zak Adams from Coventry is currently in his third year at Harvard University studying a Bachelor’s and Masters in Mathematics, with a secondary in educational studies.
Zak moved to the United States of America in 2022 to pursue his journey in education and returns home during the University holidays.
At University, Zak has progressed in many ways and is now a course assistant and teaching fellow in Maths and Applied Maths courses.
Holding office hours to answer questions on homework, to help support the learning process and teach the content in sections.
Zak offers further support by holding mid-term reviews, helping students study for exams as well as grading homework, and providing constructive feedback to the students.
When Zak returns home, he works at his former school ‘President Kennedy’ in further education, working with people to think more inspirationally and help opportunity match talent.
Particularly through university applications in the UK and the US.
Zak expresses how he feels he shouldn’t be at his University and should not be a Harvard student; whether you look at it based on statistics or stereotypes.
During Zak’s application, he ticked every single box for widening participation such as ACORN, POLAR, low income, single parent household, state educated and more.
Despite all of the challenges Zak faced, he still became a Harvard student.
This helps drive Zak to continue working in Further Education at President Kennedy, inspiring others from similar backgrounds by demonstrating what is possible.
Harvard acceptance offer had a massive impact
The initial impact Zak’s acceptance offer had on President Kennedy was significant, all the students and teachers called him ‘Harvard’, and some didn’t even know his name! But they knew he was the student from post-16 who was going to Harvard!
They all shared the same message: ‘He’s number 1,’ ‘He went to Harvard’ ‘He’s the best we ever had’.
As the first student to apply to the US academically, and go to Harvard, students from the local area started treating him like an anomaly.
It was clear to Zak that he could help drive other students, help them gain confidence and change their perspective on the event.
Working closely with members of staff and students, Zak has slowly started to change the perspective of the ‘Harvard Student’ event and changed it from ‘He’s an anomaly’ to ‘If he did it, why can’t I’. A true positive highlight of Zak’s journey.
Zak has only one mission when it comes to supporting others in further education, and that is for others to see their true potential and realise they can do what Zak has achieved!
Currently, Zak primarily focuses on helping post-16 students with University applications, helping students work out who they want to be and how they want their futures to look.
Supporting students and providing advice for their future is the only motivation Zak needs to continue his journey in FE.
One of his proudest moments was having two students last year from President Kennedy School (2024) get into university in the US on full-tuition scholarships.
This was a huge achievement for Zak as he no longer existed in isolation, instead, it was quickly becoming a common trend for secondary students getting US admissions which was bound to repeat itself. Thanks to his support and encouragement.
This process has motivated Zak to continue to work in Further Education and stay in the setting. Watching others get into their dream university, whether it is down the road or overseas, is the true benefit of working in FE for Zak and from this day continues to inspire and motivate him to keep on giving more back to the community and many others.
Having the trust and commitment of the President Kennedy team has allowed Zak to continue progressing in his journey of helping young people within further education and the students’ autonomy to make their best decisions.
Continuing to inspire others, Zak has presented at many other schools through President Kennedy’s multi-academy trust (MAT) speaking to sixth-form students, across five schools in Coventry. Supporting them with more informed decisions about universities.
Benefits for working in Higher and Further Education
Zak finds a huge benefit in supporting students in realising that many universities will have funding for them, they belong at this university, and most importantly, they can do well at this university.
Zak is hopeful for the future and wishes to continue his journey in further education at President Kennedy after completing his degree next year in 2026.
The impact Zak has had on the local community has been remarkable, featuring in the local news, alongside his mentees, and has grown an online presence on education, allowing him to share his views on education and the available support.
Zak’s career journey in Further education has only just started within the last two years, during this period, he has faced different challenges, and different conversations, with incredible individuals on every single occasion.
Working in Further Education has faced Zak with some challenging experiences, however, the end result always outweighs the negatives and helps continue to motivate Zak and many other members of staff within the setting.
It is truly inspiring to see Zak’s career journey had only started when he realised the difference he could make to his local community through his commitments and achievements.
For Zak, his Further Education progression story has only just begun.
jobs.ac.uk wish Zak Adams all the best at Harvard University, and we can’t wait to see what your future holds within Further Education.
Zak Adams
University Application Leads (Post-16)
You can find out more and connect with Zak on LinkedIn.
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