How can I afford to go to uni as a mature student?

alyth

I will try and keep this as short as possible. I'm currently studying a level 1 OU course, but I've a burning desire to go to uni and study full time. I work full time but only earn £12K a year. I've received settlement monies of £50K but the interest alone won't allow me to live off it.

I can get a place on an access course but and that gives you a bursary of £97 a week. I need £600 a month to pay rent and bills. I've been searching tonight for any type of part time work but I'm a secretary with no experience of waitressing or bar work - although i'd work in McDonalds to earn money if I could fulfill my dream.

How do I work my way round this? Do I jack in my crappy £12K job and try and get something at weekends that will allow me to cram in my OU course before starting the access course in Aug? Do I continue with the crappy job and try and cram in even more the OU course and then hope that I will get a part-time job that will fit in with the access course?

The way the access course is laid out means that I could only work evenings and weekends, which is not a problem to me as I have no dependents. The settlement money is basically my pension for the future, it's all going to be invested and the interest then invested, but I'm kind of stuck at a junction now and don't know what way to proceed!

Any advice offered? I know I won't pay council tax but I still have to pay rent/food/run a car and basically at the moment I'm totally torn between following my dream or being a grown up and getting a better paid job and continuing with the OU course!

Thanks in advance.

Lokolo

Could you not take a year out? That way you can plan your finances, save some money, work out where you can cut back, maybe move somewhere a bit cheaper? (£600 for rent and bills is quite a lot, but I guess it does depend on the location you live in)

alyth

can't move as I love where I live, i have a massive place out on an estate at a really cheap rent, thanks to this site bills are at an absolute minimum, I'm just trying to think out loud I guess how I can do the access course and still get an income coming in......

Is £600 really high? Up here you can't rent a one bed flat for less than £450! Never thought of that. that amount includes council tax of £70!

MrsManda

Firstly you need to know what it is you want to study and where. Are you willing to move or will you commute?
If you know these things, have you spoken to the admissions tutor for the course/university you want to go to? Do you need to do a FT access course or will they take OU modules as your entry requirements?
Write out your budget, do you need your car? Is there anything you can cut out?

Are you thinking of going to university in the 09/10 academic year or 10/11?

Lokolo

My rent is £225 a month..... but I do live West Midlands which is about 50x cheaper than most other places... its good living so cheap

Well, although I am cautious but still spend a little, I average around £8-9k incoming and outgoing. I could cut this down to around 5-6/7k.

Have you got a budget already?

Do you live on your own?

alyth

yes I have a very strict budget, problem is with the crappy job I have £200 left a month after paying bills, ex was paying me £200 and I was taking £200 out of my savings, so that was fine. I need £1000 a month income and the interest isn't going to give me £600 a month, hence wondering whether to try and get a part time job now and say I am going to college, or wait until I have my place and continue in the crappy job which is at least paying the bills...........

£225 is fantastic for rent! I can't even rent out a spare room under my tenancy agreement. i do live on my own with my dog, but with travelling expenses, bills, etc £1000 is the minimum I can live on - no heating in house so need coal in the winter, that sort of thing.

alyth

MrsManda wrote: »

Firstly you need to know what it is you want to study and where. Are you willing to move or will you commute?
If you know these things, have you spoken to the admissions tutor for the course/university you want to go to? Do you need to do a FT access course or will they take OU modules as your entry requirements?
Write out your budget, do you need your car? Is there anything you can cut out?

Are you thinking of going to university in the 09/10 academic year or 10/11?

I want to study English at Dundee Uni - spoken to the head of dept a couple of times, the access course at perth college is one of the best things I could do to guarantee a place, which are massively oversubscribed. I will commute, Perth is 10 miles down the road for the first year, Dundee uni is 30 miles for 3 years. because the course is so over-subscribed I need to do my OU course, the access course plus a few others like a TEFL course to enhance my application. I need my car even just to get to the local shop as I live on an estate down a farm track.

My bills are rising, just got my quote in for house insurance as been here a year and even that's gone up by £3 a month and despite searching tonight I can't get it any cheaper. Believe me I live tighter than the proverbial, I grow my own veggies, exchange fruit from the trees for eggs with the lady down the road, I'm just wondering whether there is any option that I can't think of.

PasturesNew

Don't forget - as a student you're only AT Uni half the year, leaving you peak holiday times for temp agencies to need secretarial staff.

shop-to-drop

If it is your dream and you will work hard it would be worth doing. Do you have a graduate job in mind? You are likely to earn a lot more with a good degree behind you. I would go ahead and use some of the £50K to get you by. I would think it will be money well spend in the long run.

Lokolo

PasturesNew wrote: »

Don't forget - as a student you're only AT Uni half the year, leaving you peak holiday times for temp agencies to need secretarial staff.

^^ its very useful. I managed to earn £2k+ in the summer, that was only partime work, I could have earnt double, and more, if I worked fulltime.

MrsManda

If it's your dream, get a place on the access course and keep working as long as you can until you start it. Use some of your £50K to keep yourself going and as others have said, you should be able to make quite a bit during your holidays so you'll be able to keep going without using too much of your savings.

It'll be worth it to realise your dream