A woman whose chaotic childhood cost her an education has finally earned her first qualifications at the age of 53.
Mother-of-five Naomi Day stopped attending school at the age of 12 after her family situation left her first as a latchkey kid and, for many years, homeless.
Mrs Day was forced to become "streetwise" to survive - even spending a period living in an allotment shed - and consequently completely missed out on secondary school education.
But now, more than 40 years after first becoming homeless, she has earned her first GCSEs and is determined not to stop learning.
Mrs Day has been studying as part of the adult learning scheme at City College Norwich, which she has balanced with acting as a full-time carer for her husband, and this year passed her maths and English exams.
And earlier this year, she was named the college's student of the year for adult essential skills.
She said: "I really wanted to do this to prove to myself that I could do it, but also prove to others that it does not matter what your background is, if you set your mind to something you can achieve it.
"It has proven to me that I am just as able as the next person and I am so happy that I stuck with it."
Having completed the maths and English course, she is now studying psychology and biology - and has set herself the goal of eventually doing an English degree.
She added: "I really struggled with my time management to begin with but was given so much support and persevered.
"I hope that I can show others that if you really want to get an education, then you should go for it.
"I don't really feel I have done anything different to anybody else in the class, but I'm still proud that I have done it."
