Anne Ballard has always wanted to go to Oxford University. Her twin daughters studied here and she has always wanted to be able to walk into the Bodleian Library and be able to order up any book she liked.

Now, at the age of 57, her dream is about to come true.

Anne is preparing to start an undergraduate degree in English at Harris Manchester College, the college for mature students, this October. It's not as if Anne has never been to university. She took a degree in psychology and philosophy at St Andrews University in 1966. She soon found a fulfilling career in market research and went on to have a family. She then moved into management consultancy, combining a hectic job with being a mum. But it was simply not enough.

Last year Anne spotted an article in a national newspaper about becoming a mature student at Oxford University and she sent off for more information on impulse.

After finding out what it would all entail she started preparing for the entrance exam and the rigorous selection process. "I started preparing for the exam by reading both classic and modern prose and poetry.

"I had an absolute dislike for Ted Hughes but I found myself falling in love with one of his poems and have started looking at his work in a totally different way.

"I know I can't spend my entire degree studying one man's work but I will certainly be looking at doing a lot of my work on modern poetry.

"Best of all I will be able to read and read that is a dream come true," she says. Anne is clearly bubbling over with enthusiasm at the thought of coming to Oxford this autumn.

But she fears her memory may not be as good as it once was. She says: "I worry that I may not be able to remember things as well as I used to be able to. That's a real concern for older people returning to education.

"I raised my worries at the interview, but was told it would not be a problem."

Her life will change completely. She will give up her high-paid consultancy job and be forced to live life on a tight budget - just like any other student - finding money for tuition fees as well as living expenses. "I enjoy my job and it's quite challenging but doing the degree will make a real change. I am going to fund myself and may do a bit of work on the side to get some money - otherwise I'll just live off my savings.

"This isn't something I have planned for a long time, it just seems to have happened and I can't wait to get started. "Going to Oxford is, to me, still a very special thing to do. When my daughters went up to read english I thought I would be able to shadow her studies by reading the books on her reading list but it didn't work out that way. Now I'm just looking forward to doing it for myself," she says.

Anne will stay with her mother, who lives in the city, for part of the term and the rest of the time she will commute from her home in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire.