Mum thinking of going to Uni

codwidow

Hi there

I hope someone can offer me some advice. I would like to work in HR, having previously worked in training/HR and am thinking of doing a HR degree at my local University. I have previously worked for Unison as a rep and really enjoyed it.

My husband works full time and graduates as an RMN in October, he will easily find a job where we live. We have 2 children age 3 and 7, the youngest starts school next September so I was considering going to uni then but I am now considering this year instead.

I will need to do a foundation year or access course as my GCSE's are from years ago.

Has anyone got an experience of doing the foundation year or Access course with kids at home ? I have a place for my daughter at a local authority nursery that will take her for extra days if need be, I assume I will be eligible for some help with this, she is getting 15 hrs a week government place anyway. I assume summer term I would be at home.

I would like to kind of get the access year out of the way in one year if I can, I know you can do access part time but you dont get any financial assistance. Has anyone done the access or foundation year full time and how full time is it ? Is it usually 5 days in uni or 3 or 4 ? I am asking so I can consider childcare as I also have a daughter at school, also how flexible are they at uni ?

Thanks for reading my post

Indie_Kid

codwidow wrote: »

I assume in half term and summer term I would be at home.

There is no such thing as "half term" at uni - ti's reading week. Not everyone gets this.

Rosie75

And reading weeks are rarely at the same time as half-term. Summer vacations at universities start before and finish after school holidays, so that wouldn't be a problem.

codwidow

Ok. I guess this would be worth asking about the part time options then as well .Thanks for your reply

MrsManda

Have you spoken to the admissions tutor for the degree you want to do? They're likely to be able to offer suggestions on what would best improve your chances of getting a place on the degree programme so may be better to talk to them before deciding on the access course.

Iwork2shop

I went to university about 10 years ago now when my children were 3 and 6. I did an access course to get the required qualifications for uni and then did a 3 year degree. The hours were great. I worked around the school times and my youngest went to a childminder a couple of days a week to help. Everyone else on the access course had young children so the class started after we had dropped them off at school and finished in time for us to pick them up. The degree itself was great, again because apart from lectures and seminars the hours are very flexible and you can do the required studying and course work around childcare.
Enjoy your studies - I loved my time at uni!

Mrs_Money

Yes, MrsManda is right - definitely speak to the admissions tutor before applying to an access course.
It may well be that as a mature student they are happy to accept you without the traditional qualifications criteria.
Good luck with it all - I went to uni full-time at the age of 40 (had 3 children 6, 8 and 10 yrs at the time) and I have never regretted it. Had to rely on parents at times to cover when school hols didn't match mine, but even as a full-time student I was mainly only in 2 or 3 days a week - so not too bad!

elisebutt65

codwidow wrote: »

Hi there

I hope someone can offer me some advice. I would like to work in HR, having previously worked in training/HR and am thinking of doing a HR degree at my local University. I have previously worked for Unison as a rep and really enjoyed it.

My husband works full time and graduates as an RMN in October, he will easily find a job where we live. We have 2 children age 3 and 7, the youngest starts school next September so I was considering going to uni then but I am now considering this year instead.
Most courses will have already started in Sept/Oct so you may have a problem unless there is a short course available where you are - unless you meant this coming September

I will need to do a foundation year or access course as my GCSE's are from years ago.
Research what degree you are going to do as there are different access courses available depending on what you want to study in future

Has anyone got an experience of doing the foundation year or Access course with kids at home ? I have a place for my daughter at a local authority nursery that will take her for extra days if need be, I assume I will be eligible for some help with this, she is getting 15 hrs a week government place anyway. I assume summer term I would be at home.
You may be eligible for the dependants grant

I would like to kind of get the access year out of the way in one year if I can, I know you can do access part time but you dont get any financial assistance. Has anyone done the access or foundation year full time and how full time is it ? Is it usually 5 days in uni or 3 or 4 ? I am asking so I can consider childcare as I also have a daughter at school, also how flexible are they at uni ?
The foundation degree I teach on is 2 full days a week from 9am until 4.00pm but I tend to shorten the lunch-break by 15 minutes so that the parents can get out before 4pm and avoid the traffic queue out of the college car park

Thanks for reading my post

You might want to start looking at the student finance website now to see what your entitlement will be. I still have students waiting on their loans and grants because of the !!!! up earlier this year(last year now) so you might want to start saving up for a just uin case fund if they do screw up again.

Check the college websites for Open Days and also phone up to get an appointment to speak to someone - most FE colleges are used to dealing with adult learners and all their attendant baggage;)

I started my degree when DS2 was 2 so know all about the racing around to lectures and seminars and getting kids picked up on time, but believe me it is well worth it!

codwidow

Hi

Thanks for all your replies.

I actually applied last year to do the access/foundation course and passed the tests to get in, I also applied for student finance and was eligible for a lot of the grants. I withdrew my application as I felt the time wasnt right and I think it was the right decision as the course I applied for was completely different to the one I am looking at now, I have had a few months to think over my options and I realised I was thinking of doing something everyone else thought I should do, rather than something that I wanted and I had an interest in. I plan to go in September this year if I get in that is

regarding the student finance, I obviously didnt receive anything as I didnt start the courses so will I need to send in all my documents again as they already have copies and just fill out new forms online ? As you say, they havent exactly covered themselves in glory recently and I have heard they have lost a lot of peoples documents

lallybob

Go for it!

I am currently working full time and doing an Access Course in the evenings to enable me to do a Nursing Degree next September.

I am finding the course VERY intensive but so enjoyable I really look forward to college and it has confirmed to me that I am ready for HE.

MY kids are 8 and 10 and are coping ok with my head being constantly in a book (they seem to be secretly proud!).

You will meet loads of like-minded people which is a:A great support.

codwidow

I have been talking to my friend who did a full time access course and she says it was very intensive and it was before she had kids and it was still a lot to take on. Does anyone have experience of the part time access course ? Would I get EMA if I did the part time access course ? Thanks for all your replies.

I think doing a part time access may be the way forward I dont want to bite off more than I can chew, if both my kids were at school I think it might be easier logistically but my youngest does not start school till next Sept 2011 and as much as I want to go to uni and get my access or foundation year underway I dont need to rush it and miss out on my little ones last years of being at home