Going to Uni as a mature student – anyone done this?

I'm at uni part-time. The course is half of full time so it's about 24 hours a week. We both work full-time and have no kids. I could do the course full-time but I don't really want to go down to one salary. We live in a small house and only have one car and no extravagance ? so we could survive although it would be a struggle.

I'm paying for the course myself (well, ourselves I guess as I'm married). I don't think you can get any money for studying although if you're not working and you have kids (or even if you do work maybe?) there are all sorts of benefits you can get I think. I'm sure other Hitchers with children will pop up in a minute with a more useful reply!

I'm sure I'll find out find out soon enough!

What are you studying?

I was an English Lit dropout (the course had gone through a horribly wanky post-structuralist phase, and I couldn't keep a straight face at some of the drivel I was expected to write, so when a dream job came up I went for it), but returned to a full-time three-year business degree at the age of 28.

I was initially worried that I'd be the oldest person by far, but in actual fact I was pretty average - it wasn't the kind of course that appealed to school leavers, because the modules we took were quite specialist (Arts Management, for instance), and so most people already had some real-world experience. In fact, I had so much that I was able to skip year three altogether - a year's placement in an arts organisation was a bit redundant given that I'd been managing one for six years! ?

I was lucky with the funding, though - there was obviously no chance of a grant given my track record, but my dad lent me the money and said that if I got a First I wouldn't have to pay him back. As incentives go, that was a pretty good one.

I'm doing a Masters degree in Computer Science. I wanted to do it when I left uni but I didn't have any money (only debt which I finished paying back last year, age 31) and I didn't have good enough A level grades or the right A levels required to get in. And I couldn't study full-time which was the only option then as, well, I was on my own and needed a job to pay the rent!

Nowadays you can do the course part-time, online and they're less strict on A levels; in fact they only wanted relevant work experience and a 2:1 degree in anything, or anything IT-related I think. So I went for it.

OH is doing medicine, having started this year at 30. There is feck-all help for us out there, apart from a student loan, and we have to pay everything upfront in terms of fees (it's his second time at uni, even though he also paid upfront the first time around when the Student Loan Company were reorganised the first time in 1997). We have my wage only and a lot of bills to pay! I appreciate that our situation is different as it's his second degree, and we don't have children.

Lifestyle-wise, we've obviously made sacrifices. Too many to list here - both emotional and financial. I think some major life choices may be off the agenda whether I like it or not (children, marriage, moving for my career). He's amongst the oldest on the course, but has a face as smooth as a baby's arse so he gets away with it. That said, we're still happy with our choices when we look at the bigger picture, although I would not have let him quit his fairly lucrative career for something that wouldn't have a chance of yielding significant returns. It's a trade-off that needs to be carefully considered, whatever you are doing.

I am a mature student having never gone to uni and now doing teacher training for 14+. I am fortunate enough to get a non means tested bursary for half of the cost of the initial 2 years (part-time) that my local education authority paid out 2 weeks ago. Although this has now changed responsibilities and now my account is with the Student Loans Company although non of it is repayable. I get it in three instalments but my uni charge me per semester rather than everything up front. Once my teacher training has finished I will then be turning my qualification into a full degree which will be a further 2 years and is not funded with bursaries.

I found the student information centre at the university really helpful. They told me about the bursary and have also said that the uni themselves issue bursaries depending on where you live and what you are studying. It might be worth giving them a try.

Also give your local education authority a call as they were really helpful too. They can tell you what you can and can't claim for and what other funding may be available to you.

Good luck.

Kerrie

xx

Essexmum has gone back to uni through access then doing a degree, and was going to continue into teacher training but I think she's taking a breather after her degree. Hopefully she'll see this message although she should be doing her dissertation ?

I'm a mature student in my second year. I did an access course 2 evenings a week for a year which fitted in with my part time job so wasn't really a problem.

My university course fees are funded by the NHS, I get a means tested bursary which isn't much, approx £300 a month, I also have a student loan of around £2200 per year. We just about manage on my husbands salary, have had to make some sacrifices though.

Good luck with it.

You know me too well LMAO

I did my access course ful-time over one year and then went to Uni full-time. I'm not entitled to any help finacially due to OHs wages but I have got stodent loans to pay for tution fees (currently just over £3k a year) and living costs (£1k a term paid directly into my bank on thefirst day of term). I was also awared a £2k grant which I don;t have to pay back and was given to me over the 3 years, it was great because I used it to pay for my laptop and books (which can get really expensive if you're not careful). I also have two children and worked through my time at college and Uni. I started off by doing 20 hours a week (working 7-11 5 days a week) and each year I've reduced my hours as my work load has increased. I'll not lie to you it's not been an easy ride what with working, bringing up children, keeping on to of the housework and trying to keep to the essay deadlines, but it's brilliant at the same time. However there were nights (actually still are until this dissertation has been finished) when I've been working on essasy until 5am!But my confidence has soared and I get to gradute in July this year - something I never thought I'd do when I left school at the age of 16 with no qualifications.

Good luck with it all it's something I will never regret doing, if you do have any questions feel free to ask.

Thank you so much for your replies, not sure if I should be running for the hills after reading them!

I really don't want to sit on my butt for the rest of my working life thinking "what if" if I decide not to go for it. I didn't want to work in admin (I'm a legal PA), but I ended up here and the money is good which is one of the reasons it has taken me so long to make a decision.

Mum and dad divorced when we were quite young and only one of my 45 cousins went to Uni, so further education was never talked about and they let me get on with whatever I wanted to do. A job opportunity came up just as I'd started 6th form (which I was hating) so I left and started work. I also never imagined myself ever graduating.

The thought of it all is petrifying but also feels so exciting at the same time.

Thanks again, no doubt there will be more questions!

Like Lady T, I'm doing an NHS funded degree (speech and language therapy) and I also get a means tested bursary, and a student loan of £2200 per year. At 36 I'm not the oldest on my course by a good 10 years. There's a small group of us mature students so that's really nice. Most of my mature student buddies did access courses and those who got distinctions also got a scholarship award of £500 from the Uni. I did OU, which fitted in with my life and work much better - it may be worth looking into whether yoru Uni of choice will accept OU as well. I did have to pay for the OU course myself (about £600) but my tuition fees for Uni are paid by the NHS which is great.

I love being back at Uni, thugh it's obviously very different now I have a husband and two children to get home to.

If your Uni has a dean of students office, contact them and ask about funding for parents going back to education. There is an access to learning fund, but it's means tested.

What course are you looking at doing?

My sister has also done an access course and has just started her 2nd NHS funded degree,

She says NHS course are often funded as people has said on here so if its an NHS course you are looking at doing then she can post a reply. She said she know a lot about burserys etc as do a few others who have replied on here.

I know that both OU and the Distance Learning College do access courses which you can do at home, if attending a local one is difficult.

I think only NHS degrees are funded as such, in that you don't have to pay fees, but the bursary you get now is nowhere near as large as it was a few years back. You're expected to get the student loans to live off, same as any other student. For NHS courses you can get some help for things like childcare, but otherwise that's down to you although most Unis have subsidised nurseries and hardship funds which you can apply for.

Could you do a degree part-time, or through OU, if the money might be really tight if you stop working altogether? My husband's doing an OU degree and it's costing a fair bit but he's still working full time so it's manageable, which him giving up and going to a local Uni full time wouldn't be.

I'm in the process of attending auditions for university (BA Hons Acting). TBH the course I am applying for is not very mature-student friendly, as it seems most places think that if you're over the age of 25 then you're ancient. Also, the ratio of students to drama places is something ridiculous like 200 - 1. If I do manage to get a place (which is unlikely) then I will probably be the oldest by a good 10 years. I do find that a bit daunting, but at the same time I think it will be interesting and probably quite a good thing.

I've not done a degree before, so I am entitled to the maximum student loan for fees - which is paid directly to the uni and covers 100% of the cost. I'm also entitled to a £5k yearly loan for maintenance (includes London living supplement) and, as H is self-employed and doesn't pay himself a huge salary, I will also receive around £2500 as a means-tested grant which is non-repayable. I might also be in line for a Bursary, but I don't know yet.

It will mean a huge dip in our household finances and, in my mid 30s, that terrifies me. We're currently debt free (except a mortgage) and the thought of having around £25k debt at the end of 3 years is not attractive. I've spent many a sleepless night worrying about it.

BUT, the thought of never doing what I really want scares me even more. The thought of working for the next 30 years in a career that leaves me so unsatisfied is enough to make me jump off the nearest building. I've spent the last 10 years regretting not going for my degree when I was younger, and I don't want to waste any more time. Yes, it will mean some great sacrifices financially and emotionally, but it could lead somewhere fantastic in my career as an actress. At the very least I'll have my degree which means I can go on and train as a drama teacher.

I do have a local college where I can do the access course, so that isn't a problem. I don't think I'd want to try OU or distance learning.

I'm looking in the physiotheraphy/occupational thereapy/midwife careers. Sounds ridiculous that I don't have a definite idea but I'm hoping the college can give me some guidance on this. I love helping people and want to help people (in my job right now I am only helping my bosses get big fat pay cheques each month haha!). I need to use my brain!

Thanks for all your input.

The forums on www.studentmidwives.co.uk are good if you think you might want to do the midwife thing. I don't know about doing physio or OT, but midwifery is insanely competitive to get into so realistically you need to tailor your UCAS application to it if you want to do it - ie only apply for midwifery courses and do a personal statement that is 100% focussed on midwifery (and DON'T mention how much you like babies ?)

The forums I've linked to above really helped me with my application.

I'm sure there must be similar sites for physio and OT courses. I found going to the Uni open day was essential as they gave lots of insider information. You might find that some access courses try to put you off midwifery or suggest that you have to do adult nursing first, which is bobbins.

Thanks LP. A career was always my first thought but having no confidence and no qualifications to get started always made me think I couldn't do it. I know people that are following their dreams and said I could do it and I am starting to believe in myself - amazing what a bit of growing up and having two children does to you! The emotional side of being a midwife puts the fear in me a bit, espeically as not every pregnancy is perfect, but I would love to be the sort of midwife that people want to have (like the ones that I had actually!).

I've been put off physiotheraphy as I had countless people saying how hard it is to get on the courses.

I easily get talked out of things, probably due to the lack of confidence I had. I think a chat with the college will help.

I did look at the open days but didn't know if I had to wait until I decided on the degree/course I wanted to take (after the access course). I have no idea what I'm talking about with regards to qualifications and what you need to get what you want - can you tell? haha!

The more I talk about this career change the more I want it!

My sister did Occupational Therapy and now is doing Midwifery, I'll let her know, hopefully she can help you.

Thank you, that would be great. She can PM me if she prefers.

I work for the NHS and midwives, physios etcs start on Band 5 which is £20k a year. Just something to consider if you're hoping for a better paid career!

Can you send me your email address and I'll pass it on to her. I cant email you from this site it wont work.

Mine is ***************@*******.***

Thanks

Thanks, I am under no illusion that the money will be better! I always knew that and was probably another factor to sitting tight. Some things have made me sit up and realise that money isn't everything (but it does help!).

I'm a FT student in Diagnostic Radiography and I am having the time of my life. I have two children, 4 and 2, and this year has been expensive with chidlcare, but its managable for us.

Our course has several mature students as it doesn't seem to attract the youngsters so much (can't think why, maybe its the lack of holidays, ridiculous amounts of work, and early starts ?.. which, in fact, put loads of people off!!)

It is tough, and they expect a lot of us, but offer lots of support and as we get bursaries, some child care support, and tuition fees paid, it is not much worse than some jobs. (I think a single mum could be entitled to around 6K bursary, with a lot of childcare funding on top as a guide)

I can't speak for access courses, but I do know a lot of my coursemates did it and it has helped them a lot in our first year.

Go for it. Its great fun.

I don't know about midwifery, but Physio and OT are both NHS funded, and you'd be eligible to apply for the means tested bursary as well as the basic £2200 loan per year. The dependants allowance is reasonably generous and they will take your mortgage into account when assessing you. With Mr G's wage and my bursary, we're getting by.

At my Uni (UEA), SLT was far harder to get onto than physio as there were less places - my advice would be to get some extra experience - shadow a physio/OT/midwife, volunteer, go to a group (maybe stroke support or something if you're going down the OT/PT route) and show the Uni how keen you are. The fact that you have to deliberately go out and get an extra qualification should work in your favour - it certainly did for me as it showed my Uni that I was serious about the course.

Thank you all so much for your replies. They are definitely gving me food for thought.

I'm a student midwife so if you have any questions about studying midwifery, please feel free to ask.