Re Training Nurse/Teacher?

lisaann72red

I am 36yrs old. I gave up work to raise our family 4 kids in 2000, The youngest is starting full time school on monday. What a year to be able to get back into employment. I am considering re training and thinking about a long term career.
thinking about Primary Teacher or a Nurse.

My GCSE results aren't great English D
Maths E
Biology E
Probably could have done a bit better but wasnt that focused at the time also was first yr of GCSE Exams.
Anyone any advise would I need to resit these exams before taking another course. I have spoken to the careers service but they were not that helpful.
Anyone know of any financial help I could receive.

Thanks in advance

Lisa

scuba_girl

Hi Lisa

To train as a primary school teacher you will need at least grade C in English, Maths and Science. You should be able to retake these at your local college.

Once you have retaken these exams, you would then need to complete Initial Teacher Training at a university. To become a teacher, you need to complete a degree, which you can do whilst doing your Initial Teacher training.

The TDA website is really good for giving advice and information on teacher training as well as financial support whilst training.

Good luck

suseh97

My friend's mother died when she was 16 right before her exams. She did not perform well and left school to be a nursery nurse. She had always dreamed of being a teacher. Now she is on an access to primary school teaching course at a further education college. The English and maths are included in the course. Plus it lets her see if it would really be for her before the commitment of a full time degree.
There are two colleges near me who do access to primary education and about four who do access to nursing. Where do you live? Worth checking out the local colleges to see if they offer these sort of courses. Plus they will be able to tell you more about how your grades would affect your chances.
Good luck!

butterfly72

As mentioned previously you could do the access to healthcare course. Alongside this you can do maths and english, upto gcse level. If you do fancy nursing be aware that it will eventually be available at degree level only and they may ask for higher gcse grades. Who knows if they'll accept access course entry?

I have friends who have entered via the access route and some who went back to college to redo GCSEs. I suppose the gcse route whould keep your options open but I guess at 36 you just want to crack on with it! Apparently the access route prepares you well for the nursing course at uni.

For what its worth the nursing course is hard work. They pile on the exams and essays at the same time as being on placement. Once qualified, the options for part time work and flexible work ie bank or agency work are also good and you'll never be without work! Good for childcare!


Good luck!

Louisa_Jane_2

Something else to consider is that the nursing course is free and if you do the diploma, you get a £6500 bursary a year (at least). I've just started my diploma, so any questions, just ask!

Oldernotwiser

scuba_girl wrote: »

Hi Lisa

To train as a primary school teacher you will need at least grade C in English, Maths and Science. You should be able to retake these at your local college.

Whilst this is certainly true, you will also need a higher level qualification, like an Access course or A levels, to be able to get onto a degree.

Oldernotwiser

Louisa_Jane wrote: »

Something else to consider is that the nursing course is free and if you do the diploma, you get a £6500 bursary a year (at least). I've just started my diploma, so any questions, just ask!

Don't forget that the Dipoma course will not be available for much longer, when nursing becomes an all graduate profession.

chika

I know a few people who have swapped from the degree to the diploma for that reason. I also know that if you want to convert your diploma to a degree then you can do so at the end of the diploma by doing approx 1yr extra studies.

suseh97

In Scotland the access to nursing course should be renamed access to a nursing degree. It prepares you for university rather than nursing as a job. Is that the same elsewhere in the country? You study subjects that will be acceptable for entry into university. Subjects that are equivalent (and recognised by the admissions at university) to school exams. It is the same for the access to primary teaching.

Louisa_Jane_2

chika wrote: »

I know a few people who have swapped from the degree to the diploma for that reason. I also know that if you want to convert your diploma to a degree then you can do so at the end of the diploma by doing approx 1yr extra studies.

On our course we can change to the degree in the final year - that way you can get 2 years of bursary (I think a lot of people do it this way). The first two years are the same anyway ( I think there is a higher expectation when on placements from 2nd year and have to achieve to a higher level), it's only in the final year that you have to do 1 or 2 extra modules and a dissertation. I have heard that once you start working that the NHS will fund you to convert your diploma to degree, but unsure whether that is true or not.
I had O levels from 25 years ago and an NVQ level 3, but lots of people have done the access course or/and used learn direct for english and maths.

clairec79

In Wales which has been degree only since 2004 I believe (prior to 2005 anyway) you get the non-means tested bursary for the degree