Scrolling through X (formerly Twitter) on my bus journey home from work to be met with the Herald exclusive on the axing of the Advanced Higher Hub programme on Thursday brought a sense of shock and sadness in equal measure. It also brought to the fore a lot of memories from the 2013-14 school term.

I was in my last year at secondary, struggling to fill my timetable with subjects that would be helpful towards the end goal of a successful university application. As a bit of a social subjects geek, an A in Higher History was secured and a crash course Modern Studies higher already locked in for the year.

After just over a month of experimenting with varying projects suddenly an offer, seemingly out of the blue, was presented to join what was then a brand new University Hub for an Advanced Higher in History. Delighted, I jumped at the chance. Not withstanding the fact I’d be playing catch up, I was excited at the chance to have a go at another level beyond what could reasonably be offered in my school and to do it in a subject I loved.

It would involve entering a university campus twice a week - once during school hours and once after – and working with people from schools that we never previously engaged with. All of it new, fresh and with obvious advantages to any potential university entrance.

On arrival, I was immediately greeted with a helpful, committed and clearly passionate admin and pupil support department. They very quickly explained the nature of what I was now enrolled in, provided a copy of the notes from the month I had missed.

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Entering a new environment at the start of the project would have been difficult and to do so a month in seemed daunting, however the initial welcome dispelled that fear very quickly.  Although the onus was clearly put on me to quickly get up to speed with independent reading and knowledge gathering from the notes and extensive books provided at the outset, both the tutor and fellow students were all ready and happy to help.

I actually didn’t mind the responsibility of independent reading, with no constant oversight - in fact it was a bit of a breath of fresh air to the structures and continuous monitoring that inevitably takes place in the school environment. But I was also safe in the knowledge that the regular check-ups from the support team were available should it be needed.

After settling well and getting on the same page as the rest, the obvious advantages of learning in a seminar style environment were clear: tutors steeped in the specific topic of study and with an obvious passion for it too; small class size enabling a proper one to one support when and where it was needed; an abundance of resources at your disposal from Uni IT equipment, the Uni library; and even what would probably seem like small things such as the design and comfort of the rooms being used to teach.

The course work was intensive, as expected, given the independent reading and breadth of research needed, the scale of the modules, and overall the complexity of the topic itself: the Russian Revolution.

Beyond the immediate educational advantages, what can’t be measured by grading was the personal development: the sense of independence that comes with travelling to and from a university campus; engaging with the library and huge facilities and getting to meet new people all be it with a similar story and experience; developing an ability to research and strategically analyse opinions from historical events to help shape a view of the present and future.

For someone who was and remains the sole member of my family to go to university, the development of a self-confidence and battle against imposter syndrome is always a challenge. The experience of the Hub learning was a big part of helping to manage that and something you carry with you moving forward into a working environment too.

The decision to scrap the programme and to take away from others the opportunity afforded to me would be a real backwards step and a signal of obvious decline in evidence based policy given the programmes well-earned reputation and track record. It would be one of the clearest signals yet that we unfortunately have government at all levels who appear to know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.