Lisa Alexander - BA (Hons) Social Work Distance Learning

When Lisa Alexander crossed the stage at P&J Live it marked not only a fantastic academic achievement, but also a successful balancing act of keeping up with her studies while working full-time.

Her late brother encouraged Lisa to study social work and following his death she applied to RGU a year later.

The 40-year-old from Elgin opted for distance learning which meant she could continue in employment as an assistant social worker.

Lisa said: “I never knew what I wanted to do but knew it was in a caring role, I got a HNC in Health Care at Moray College in 2013 and worked as a support worker then a care coordinator for a care provider, but I knew I wanted to do more. My brother Kevin always encouraged me to get a social work degree, but I never felt ready. He died in 2020, and I applied to RGU the following year.”

Lisa had studied at college in the decade before starting at RGU and picked up experience in the care sector. Lisa began a social worker trainee post in January 2025.

She is now in post as a social worker with Moray Council’s Adult Community Care Team supporting adults in the community to live as independently as they can by carrying out assessments, reviews and liaising with families, care providers and other professionals ensuring a holistic approach is taken with the individual’s needs and wishes being at the centre of all planning and feels the knowledge she acquired at RGU has been vital. During her studies Lisa also got married.

Lisa said: “I am delighted to have passed, it has been a hard 3 years and 8 months with self-funding and working full-time, I also completed a 100-day placement where I didn’t get paid as I had to take a career break, and I planned our wedding and got married in July 2024. I have enjoyed the course and learnt a lot and have been well supported by the lecturers, especially my tutor Sheila.”

“I enjoyed block weeks as it was a good opportunity for us all to share our own experiences and see how different legislation, policies and procedures are in different parts of the UK. I enjoyed my 100-day placement which was on a Children and Families team as I had no experience in working in this area I learnt and lot during the placement.”

Lisa got to share her graduation day with her husband Gareth Rutherford and her parents John and Lorraine who travelled from New Zealand to join in the celebrations.