Jerry Hall takes degree to inspire her children

Model and actress Jerry Hall has gone to university at the age of 45 to convince her children they should put further education before fame, she said today.

Her four children by Mick Jagger may have grown up surrounded by celebrity, but Hall wants them to realise the importance of getting good qualifications.

The Texan supermodel enrolled with the Open University last year and is studying for a BA in Humanities.

"I decided to study for a degree because I thought it would inspire my children to go to university and set a good example," she said.

So far the couple's eldest child, Elizabeth, has chosen to follow her mother's modelling career rather than continue her education.

The 18-year-old is now a fixture on the catwalks and recently appeared alongside supermodel Kate Moss at a fashion show put on by actress and designer Sadie Frost.

But the couple's other children - James, 16, Georgia, 10, and four-year-old Gabriel - could yet be inspired by their mother's newfound love of learning.

Hall plans to enrol on the Open University's summer camp this year, joining fellow students in either Bath or Stirling.

She was speaking at the Cannes Film Festival where she was judging a beachfront swimwear parade.

Hall also announced plans to return to the West End after impressing the critics with her performance as Mrs Robinson in The Graduate.

She will appear in the stage version of All About Eve next February, playing the part made famous by Bette Davis in the original film.

Before that she will star in Benchmark, a new play written by Felicity Kendall's husband Michael Rudman, at London's Hampstead Theatre in September.

Hall has worked hard to establish herself as a stage actress recently, touring Britain in the play Picasso's Women and appearing in The Vagina Monologues in London and America.

"I like appearing on stage because I love the audience and I find it very exciting. It's instant gratification," she said.

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