A GRANDFATHER whose full-time schooling was stopped at the age of 11 has been awarded a degree at 78.


Gerald Nathanson, of Brook Parade, Chigwell, was told this week that he had got a 2.2 in British history from Birbeck college at the University of London after studying for four years.


“It’s a dream come true,” he said. “I never had a proper education and left school at 11.


“It was a challenge, but I was up for it and I concentrated completely on it.


“I’ve had lots of support from my friends and family and I didn’t think I’d get a result any higher than I did get.”


Mr Nathanson, who lives with his wife Carol, was bombed out during the Second World War never re-entered education full-time, attending 10 different schools as he moved around.


But he always dreamed of carrying on his education and signed up for the degree at 74, attending evening seminars and lectures in British history from the 11th century to the 1700s.

He also studied the African-American educator Booker T Washington for his dissertation.


“I did one module on ancestors and the afterlife in medieval society and we went around the class saying why we were doing it.


“I said ‘I’m the oldest one in this class and I’m closer to the afterlife than anyone else’.”

The former London cabbie is now a tour guide around the capital and plans to carry on giving talks on history.


“My philosophy is that you can’t help getting old, but you don’t have to be old,” he said. “I want to talk to other senior citizens and say ‘don’t give up’.


“I did my advanced driving test at 74 and that was a turning point for me.”


He plans to attend the college’s graduation ceremony in November and said his children and grandchildren had told him they would go along.

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