can't afford place at oxford

clairestelle

Yes, it wouldn't be cheaper for me to do the degree elsewhere but because I already have a degree and have used up the funding I'm entitled to, it's hard to get any more financial help.

melbury

surfcat wrote:

Costs are the same, although living costs in Oxford (if you can't live in college) are above average for the south-east. For a room in a 5 bed house you're looking at about 290pcm, and that was 4 years ago.

It is an amazing place though, and I would thoroughly recommend going if you can.

Yes it is a pretty amazing place. My son is in his fourth year there and luckily has always been able to live in at college, which although not particularly cheap (circa £100 per week), does include all bills except food and even that is heavily subsidized. I was just querying that surely the actual university/tuition costs are the same wherever you go.

louise_1981

Am I right in saying you already have your degree, yes, I hope so. As you have studied to degree level I am quite sure, but not certain, you will have to check this out but you could do a two year conversion course, quite a few colleges now offer them, so that could be another route to follow. My b/f did this route and I think he is a lot better off than me, how is doing the one year course. If you do qualify, then you also qualify for the bursarcy and can take out a student loan too.

have a look on this website for prospective teachers http://www.tda.gov.uk/, and give them a ring, the people are really friendly and helpful there.

As others have said Oxford is not the only college and once you have qualified, it really does mean nothing.

Hope this helps

Louise

clairestelle

Thanks for the advice Louise. I actually want to teach at university level and I know that Oxford isn't the only place I could go but it offers exactly the type of course and teaching I want and it's a beautiful place, etc. etc!

melbury

I would have thought that once you have qualified, where you got that qualification does mean something. Surely a qualification from Oxford or Cambridge is looked on very favourably by prospective employers and carries a lot more clout that some of the "new wave" universities.

Goldilox

Ask some local business to see if they will sponsor you...in return perhaps you could work for them during the holidays. No harm in asking.

megsykins

Would doing a BEd instead of a BA help? At least then you can cut down you studying by a year (no PGCE) and so rack up less debt?

liz24

If you want to teach English at university level surely you'll need a PhD first? I may be wrong but I doubt there's very many, if any, teaching posts at universities that only require a BA, plus the level of competition is huge for the arts and you'll be up against candidates who all probably do have PhDs. Obviously I may have misunderstood what you mean (really sorry if so!) or you may indeed be planning to go on to graduate study (again sorry!), although if this is the case it may be easier and ultimately cheaper to just go straight on to a master's course rather than do another BA first.

Savvy_Sue

Yup, I would second liz24's suggestion, if you could think of a hybrid English/history topic to research then you could hopefully then cross over into English teaching ...

seraphina

sockospice wrote:

I know it sounds harsh, but unless you want to teach at one of the top public schools, no one will care where your undergraduate degree came from.

Think about whether there are easier/cheaper ways of doing a degree, eg OU

I would seriously disagree with this. From having worked in both industry and academia, people will openly admit to favouring universities. It can be anything from a mild preference to not recruiting from people who don't come from around 6 or 7 of the top universities. This is becoming more and more common with the flood of new graduates onto the job market - the quality of the university is pretty much the only way to distinguish between graduates.

As for teaching at a university level, this is a bit of a myth at any of the top universities. You will be expected to have not only a PhD but an active research career. You will quickly find that teaching is one of the least important activities in your calendar!

Good luck with what you want to do - don't give up now!