want to study degree p/t but no help with tuition fees? any suggestions?

brians_daughter

Hi Tonysgirl, thanks for the info.I have spoken to OU and they have emailled me the leaflet that basically says you have to pass a credit check, i have explained the situ to them and they said i would in all probability not pass their credit scoring. When you say your credit was poor could you give more details (not meaning to be too personal but did you have any defaults etc)

Ideally i want to re-train to be a teacher so was looking to do my degree p/t and then my GPT or PGCE.

I have started to look at other options like doing the degree f/t and trying to find work to fit around it .

I would ideally love to go straight in and do a BEd but with the placements etc it would be quite hard to find employment that will fit round placements etc - or i would imagine it would be.If anyone knows any different please let me know

So doing a degree and then the PGCE seems an ideal solution for me.

I have called my local student loan place and it seems if i was to go f/t i would get the following - the info matches the direct gov site, this is taking into account i earned £6000pa and taking into account my partners income.


Maintenance loan of £ 4,553 Fee loan of up to £ 3,225 If studying in England - subject to the cost of your course Maintenance Grant of £ 794
i have figured out if i took a p/t job on top of my f/t job now in 12 months i would be able to pay off my loan and cc.

If i can convince my employer to let me do 2 days a week once i started teh degree (not impossible as a girl there wants to job share) my income would be £7000 pre deductions. i would cut my travel costs to around £70 for work and my childcare would be cut too as mil has kids 2 days a week for me now anyway.

so it just may be possible to do it f/t in sept 2010.

Does anyone know if it is realistic to be a mum, work 2 days and do a f/t degree? I am sure ppl have done it/are doing it how do you find it? I am sure it is possible as in my last role i was away for 60 hours a week including travel and still managed to be a mum,

bestpud

brians_daughter wrote: »

Hi Tonysgirl, thanks for the info.I have spoken to OU and they have emailled me the leaflet that basically says you have to pass a credit check, i have explained the situ to them and they said i would in all probability not pass their credit scoring. When you say your credit was poor could you give more details (not meaning to be too personal but did you have any defaults etc)

Ideally i want to re-train to be a teacher so was looking to do my degree p/t and then my GPT or PGCE.

I have started to look at other options like doing the degree f/t and trying to find work to fit around it .

I would ideally love to go straight in and do a BEd but with the placements etc it would be quite hard to find employment that will fit round placements etc - or i would imagine it would be.If anyone knows any different please let me know

So doing a degree and then the PGCE seems an ideal solution for me.

I have called my local student loan place and it seems if i was to go f/t i would get the following - the info matches the direct gov site, this is taking into account i earned £6000pa and taking into account my partners income.


Maintenance loan of £ 4,553 Fee loan of up to £ 3,225 If studying in England - subject to the cost of your course Maintenance Grant of £ 794
i have figured out if i took a p/t job on top of my f/t job now in 12 months i would be able to pay off my loan and cc.

If i can convince my employer to let me do 2 days a week once i started teh degree (not impossible as a girl there wants to job share) my income would be £7000 pre deductions. i would cut my travel costs to around £70 for work and my childcare would be cut too as mil has kids 2 days a week for me now anyway.

so it just may be possible to do it f/t in sept 2010.

Does anyone know if it is realistic to be a mum, work 2 days and do a f/t degree? I am sure ppl have done it/are doing it how do you find it? I am sure it is possible as in my last role i was away for 60 hours a week including travel and still managed to be a mum,

I have known lots do it for academic subjects but you would struggle doing that on a teaching course.

What subject are you looking at?

If it is a humanities course, you will definitely be ok. If it is something which requires lab work, or the like, you may find it more difficult as there is more classroom time iyswim.

Whatever you do, you are likely to find a modular based course easier to fit around other commitments.

I would check out the uni and course, and see what sort of time you are likely to spend in lectures.

brians_daughter

was thinking of doing english and sociology - pretty easy in comparison to some for time in etc.
I think doing the degree then the teacher training year is by far the best option for me.

After speaking to the uni looking at this years time table i would be in 14 hours, if i went to the uni near work i would be free to work upto 3 full days - obviously i would need to re-visit this with work load etc.

As you say although the BEd would be the 'most direct' route it isnt possible, or at very least it is a lot more ambitious than doing the degree then tt afterwards.

It just seems funny that going f/t makes better 'financial sense' than p/t atm

as i say- i will have to apply for 2010 entry and get a p/t job to pay off my cc and loan 1st but it is possible and looking at the big picture is well worth the effort. I just need to re-do my expenditure sheet to allow for p/t work as well as f/t - i know some one who owns a pub and is currently looking for osmeone to do thursday/friday nights. This would work well for me as i dont tend to go out a lot - unless special occassions and OH is back home from work on a thursday so would be able to look after kids

bestpud

I am doing sociology.

I started full time and lots of mature students on the course combine work and family with the full time degree.

I would say the same about English (quite a few combine the two subjects), although the English students have a lot of compulsory reading, obviously.

I think if you learn to work steadily from the start, and keep on top of the workload, you will be fine. It's when you let it pile up that problems start.

Make friends with your subject librarian too as that can save you many an hour searching in vain for a document/book!

You do know the PGCE is a very intensive course though, don't you? I know it's only a year, but they seem bogged down with work and assignments right from the off.

brians_daughter

I know PGCE is quite intensive, ideally i would like to go down the route of GTP but know that they are few and far between.

Hopefully by the time i get to looking at PGCE i will be in a position to have the time off work to study for it - I put money away each month in a 10 year saving and investment plan, this should pay out about 8k in 2013..god that seems so far away but it will be mature when i need it .

Fire_Fox

brians_daughter wrote: »

Ideally i want to re-train to be a teacher so was looking to do my degree p/t and then my GPT or PGCE.

I have started to look at other options like doing the degree f/t and trying to find work to fit around it .

I would ideally love to go straight in and do a BEd but with the placements etc it would be quite hard to find employment that will fit round placements etc - or i would imagine it would be.If anyone knows any different please let me know

So doing a degree and then the PGCE seems an ideal solution for me.

I have called my local student loan place and it seems if i was to go f/t i would get the following - the info matches the direct gov site, this is taking into account i earned £6000pa and taking into account my partners income.


Maintenance loan of £ 4,553 Fee loan of up to £ 3,225 If studying in England - subject to the cost of your course Maintenance Grant of £ 794
i have figured out if i took a p/t job on top of my f/t job now in 12 months i would be able to pay off my loan and cc.

If i can convince my employer to let me do 2 days a week once i started teh degree (not impossible as a girl there wants to job share) my income would be £7000 pre deductions. i would cut my travel costs to around £70 for work and my childcare would be cut too as mil has kids 2 days a week for me now anyway.

so it just may be possible to do it f/t in sept 2010.

Does anyone know if it is realistic to be a mum, work 2 days and do a f/t degree? I am sure ppl have done it/are doing it how do you find it? I am sure it is possible as in my last role i was away for 60 hours a week including travel and still managed to be a mum,

This all sounds really positive!! :T You could maybe consider taking a slightly more vocational degree rather than English and Sociology, neither of which help you to be more qualified for a particular job (except teaching). Really just so you can have even better career prospects as you go along, and can take a break if your circumstances change (e.g. another child). Many degrees now include work experience as modules which you can either do unpaid or, for many mature/ experienced students, as a paid placement.

Your final option is to start hunting for a job within a college or university, as they will often do a fee waiver for any course you fancy! :beer: Also the NHS and many local councils are very generous at paying for their staff's education - even outside the direct field.

Oldernotwiser

Fire_Fox wrote: »

You could maybe consider taking a slightly more vocational degree rather than English and Sociology, neither of which help you to be more qualified for a particular job (except teaching). Really just so you can have even better career prospects as you go along, and can take a break if your circumstances change (e.g. another child). Many degrees now include work experience as modules which you can either do unpaid or, for many mature/ experienced students, as a paid placement.
.

If the OP wants to teach English then an English degree IS vocational!

Fire_Fox

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

If the OP wants to teach English then an English degree IS vocational!

I did say "slightly more vocational", not train as a plumber!

The truly vocational option is to take a BEd from day one. English plus Sociology is not the most useful combination if the OP needs to stop or take an extended break from her studies - a lot can change in four years - neither one is vocational. Even if one was more directly relevant to other occupations, it might mean she'd be able to earn more during the course or indeed afterwards.

bestpud

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I did say "slightly more vocational", not train as a plumber!

The truly vocational option is to take a BEd from day one. English plus Sociology is not the most useful combination if the OP needs to stop or take an extended break from her studies - a lot can change in four years - neither one is vocational. Even if one was more directly relevant to other occupations, it might mean she'd be able to earn more during the course or indeed afterwards.

The trouble is, the subject counts when you come to apply for the PGCE.

I know someone who is doing a primary PGCE following a sociology degree but she had to be very careful to explain how her degree was suitable. If the OP were to take a vocational subject, she'd want to be careful what she chose as it is academic proficiency they want to see, from what I can tell anyway.

English would obviously be fine though.

brians_daughter

the old if you were me question...but what would your choice be re subjects to study bearing in mind my end goal? i have spoken to a few ed facilities who said that that mix would be acceptabe, as it is the best route open to me once family, work and commitments have been considered.Once i graduate and justify the choice not to do BEd i have been told i should be fine (note the SHOULD!) but any input is welcome from ppl in this situ already,

I really would like to do the BEd route but after sitting down and doing the sums etc and following advice from someone who is doing a BEd (finding it difficult to gain employemnt that will fit around placements etc) i feel the degree then PGCE is less of a 'drain' and will throw the least obsticals in my path.

I have decided that by sept 2010 i will deffo be debt free and after speaking to the guy i know who owns the pub he said i can start there the weekend after easter so i hope i will be on my way to re-paying my debt.

I have also decided to do a distance learning course via Edge Hill so i can 'ease myself back into learning' - although i gained 12 GCSE grades A*- B's it was a long long time ago! Plus, by doing the course as long as you do well they will give you a place on the degree , so again less stress wondering if i will be accepted. And this will keep me focused as i will be actually working towards my goals from both a financial and educational point of view!

i am really glad i found you lot here, it has started a massive thinking process and i think i may of overcome the obsticals i thought were in my way initially!

Phew..reading taht back i seem to have been very busy over the last day or so!!