Thinking of going to uni -pie in the sky??

claireac

I'd love to be able to leave my job and go to university, possibly college first as I don't have A Levels but do have a BTEC HNC.

My question is, where on earth do I start looking to find out what, if any, money I could get through grants etc??

My dream is to be a social worker.

newlysingle_2

Hi, I am currently doing an access to social science course, in the hopes of applying to uni this year. I also want to go into Social Work. If I were you- and this is what some of my class mates are doing, work whist doing a part time access course, and save as much as you can in the mean time to prevent getting into too much debt. If doing the social work degree you would be intitled to a bursary, which covers the course fees with a little bit of change. There is a link somewhere on mse- not sure where, which lets you put your circumstances and works out approx what you would be entitled to.

Good luck with your decision xx

Oldernotwiser

claireac wrote: »

I'd love to be able to leave my job and go to university, possibly college first as I don't have A Levels but do have a BTEC HNC.

My question is, where on earth do I start looking to find out what, if any, money I could get through grants etc??

My dream is to be a social worker.

If you already have an HNC then you should be qualified to study for a degree as this is a higher qualification than A levels. If you want to do the degree in Social Work you will also need to have English and Maths GCSEs (Grade A-C) and relevant experience. If you did this qualification a long time ago, you may be asked for evidence of recent study.

You can find all the information on funding on https://www.direct.gov.uk and more information about training as a Social Worker on http://www.socialworkcareers.co.uk/

Basically, you will receive a loan to pay for the fees and a loan to go towards maintenance. If your household income is below a certain level you will also receive a maintenance grant and all social work students receive a bursary.

Oldernotwiser

newlysingle wrote: »

If doing the social work degree you would be intitled to a bursary, which covers the course fees with a little bit of change. x

You wouldn't normally pay the fees with the bursary as there is a tuition fee loan to cover them. You haven't mentioned the maintenance loan and means tested grant either!

newlysingle_2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

You wouldn't normally pay the fees with the bursary as there is a tuition fee loan to cover them. You haven't mentioned the maintenance loan and means tested grant either!

I am only just finding things out myself. I was simply advising the OP of what my class mates are doing to prevent building up the student debt. And again the only reason I suggested the access course is because alot of my class mates have done HNC/ HND's before but are on the course for an insight before they start uni, to make sure it is what they want to do.

alyth

I'm on an access course at the moment, Access to Humanities, in Scotland, and I can tell you that every second person on that course wants to be a social worker. One of the girls completed an HND in social care and has been working within a nursing home as a car assistant so has NVQs, etc as well for 8 eights. She didn't get into uni last year and is back doing the access course to enhance her application.

I tell you this purely because that and primary teaching are the "in" careers to be taking at the moment - we had a group discussion about it today at college. If you take an access course that guarantees you a place at uni then fine, but the girl mentioned above has more than enough qualifications to get a uni place and was knocked back.

With regards to funding, you may get a bursary for your access course, otherwise it's the same funding as the rest of students get - loans, use your savings, work part-time, there are no grants nowadays, as far as I know anyway, if you really want to follow your dream then you will achieve it, but it's going to be hard work in your chosen field at the moment.

Oldernotwiser

newlysingle wrote: »

I am only just finding things out myself. I was simply advising the OP of what my class mates are doing to prevent building up the student debt. And again the only reason I suggested the access course is because alot of my class mates have done HNC/ HND's before but are on the course for an insight before they start uni, to make sure it is what they want to do.

I hope that there aren't many people on your course with HNDs as they won't get full funding for a degree course if they've already had support for 2 years at degree level.

Access courses can be very useful, which is why I said that the OP may be asked for evidence of recent study.

Oldernotwiser

alyth wrote: »

With regards to funding, you may get a bursary for your access course, otherwise it's the same funding as the rest of students get - loans, use your savings, work part-time, there are no grants nowadays, as far as I know anyway, if you really want to follow your dream then you will achieve it, but it's going to be hard work in your chosen field at the moment.

Alyth, I'm sorry but you're describing the situation in Scotland and the OP is in Hampshire.

In England you don't get bursaries for Access courses. If you don't have a qualification at this level already, which the OP does, you may get your fees waived and £30 per week ALG but there are no student loans below degree level.

In England there are grants as well as loans for degree level study and bursaries are available for social work students. You can also take a loan out for the tuition fees which is another difference between the 2 countries, as Scottish students don't have to pay fees.

claireac

Thank you all very much for replies. It's really interesting and something that I need to think long and hard about I guess.

I'm 39, married, have a 3yr old dd and a well paid flexible job - so lots of factors to take into account and considerations to be made.

Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction, maybe an access course would be a good starting point for me. I'm home studying at the moment (anatomy and physiology for a massage qualification), so I think I'm kind of in gist of "learning" which I think will stand me in good stead.

Oldernotwiser

claireac wrote: »

Thank you all very much for replies. It's really interesting and something that I need to think long and hard about I guess.

I'm 39, married, have a 3yr old dd and a well paid flexible job - so lots of factors to take into account and considerations to be made.

Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction, maybe an access course would be a good starting point for me. I'm home studying at the moment (anatomy and physiology for a massage qualification), so I think I'm kind of in gist of "learning" which I think will stand me in good stead.

An alternative to an Access course, if you enjoy distance learning and want to carry on working, would be to do an OU unit, probably Introduction to Social Science or Introduction to Social Care. These would both give you a foundation and evidence of recent study.

When I worked as a Careers Adviser in your area this was acceptable to the Social Work degrees offered at Southampton, Portsmouth and Solent universities but as this was a couple of years ago I'd advise you to check it. Many mature students go into social work with far lower qualifications than you have but it is necessary to get relevant experience first.

claireac

I was thinking of doing some volunteering for the Prince's Trust, I was thinking of maybe a Leaving Care Mentor.

Do you think this would useful and relevant as experience?

Hopefully having two pretty much sorted sons (aged 18 & 20) will help!