I want to be a mature student ....

bektoria

Hi,

I am 30 years old, married with two children age 5 and 3 yrs. I am wanting to study for a degree but I am not able to do a full time course due to child care and I also work 26 hours a week. I have seen in our local college that they do part time HND courses which I could do 2 evenings a week and then go on to do a conversion to a degree. I also looked into the Open Univ courses but they seemed really expensive. Does anyone know if I could get funding for a HND course or if there are any cheaper home learning courses ?
Thanks for taking the time to read this.

jcb1967_2

Almost five years ago I gave up work at 32 and started a foundation course at a University (eligible for a student loan if it is at a university) and then went on to complete my undergraduate and now doing a full time MSc. As a mature student you LEA (local education authority) will pay the course fees in full doing it fulltime. As for further funding, when full time student you can get your student (£4k per year), interest rate currently under 3% which you payback only when you start to earn over £25k per year. There is a £500 per year top up to this available too.

There is a hardship fund especially for mature students. The size of this fund depends on the university but this can be checked on "The Times - Guide to Universities" webpage but can vary from £20k to £1.5m. You can apply to this fund whilst on a full time course and get an extra £1k to £5k per year towards living costs, childcare etc.

Many students work through their course although most find that 10 hours a week is enough with the study and other commitments. There is no point in screwing up you degree for the sake of a few hours extra work otherwise you are back where you started but in debt as well!

Student accounts are available with free overdrafts. Even if you don't use the overdraft for living on take the money out and put it into a savings account. It all adds up.

If you are disabled for any reason including dyslexic you will be able to get access to extra funding to purchase computer, printer, scanner, books, photocopies etc.

Doing a degree full time means you are finished in 3 years rather than it taking 5 years+ part time.

Its hard work but great fun. If you really want to do a degree, go for it. I certainly have no regrets. Good luck and enjoy.

stuwilky

Depending on your circumstances there are a number of funding options that could be available to you.

Student Loan (approx £4200)
Dependants Grant (approx £2300)
Childcare Grant (upto 85% of childcare upto £170 per week)

along with one or two other things as well. Contact your local LEA and ask for a copy opf the funding brochure (last years should still be available but will obviously be slightly out of date)

Also worth remembering the total overhaul of the fees system for Septemebr 2006 - probably worth starting this year!

worleyone

hi,

im a mature student with a six year old son,
im in my final year of my radiography degree,

As im classed as an NHS student i get a bursary as well as a student loan, the bursary is means tested , ( on age, amount of children, partners income ect) but some of the studnet seem to do quite well on the bursary, with mature students automatically being entitled to more money ( up to £1000) than those under 24.

the total amount i recieve for the year is the same as if i was doing a normal degree. except the amount i have to pay back in the long run is only half of what other student will have to pay back due to only recieving half of what other students get in loans

at the end of the day, its been a struggle to juggle studying and working full time in clinical placement but it will have been worth it all when i start to get paid a decent wage.

i have only 5 months left to go and i can see the end of the tunnel ,Im just waiting to start being paid for this work now, yipee! !!

sockospice

What do you want to study?

Some courses (nursing, social work etc) offer a bursary, others don't actually involve that much time 'in' uni, so if you are disciplined you can fit working around it (I did an English degree which only had 6hrs of lectures a week, so I could work pretty much full time around it).

When looking at courses look at how many hours of lectures you get a week, what the university offers to help mature students, and get in touch with your LEA to see what they offer, as they all seem to offer different things.

Party_Animal

I was 38 when I went to Uni and 41 when I graduated. It was hard work, both mentally and financially, I worked during the hols, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Three of the best years of my life. A whole new world for me and I've never looked back.

SnowyOwl_2

Gosh Party_Animal, I am very impressed!

I'm in my late 30's and interested in going to university next year - I'd love to hear your tips on choosing which course, choosing a university, getting accepted, managing money, fitting in, and anything else to do with being a mature student. It seems so daunting even considering university in my 40's (that's how old I'd be if I summon up enough bravery to do this!) but if I had the benefit of someone else's experience it'd be very encouraging.
Would you mind giving some advice? Pretty please??

crana999

snowyowl - re fitting in - 4 of my friends are mature students (well, the ones i know about..)

all freshers - one is 21, two are about 27 (one has a school-age kid but doesnt live with him) and one is about 36.

They all seem to fit well into their courses and socially

It's a little different at my uni as it's arranged into "colleges" which is where you live and have tutorials, and the focus of a lot of social life - lectures/practicals etc are arranged for thr whole university together. The university has several colleges specifically for mature students (one is just for women mature students) - 2 of my friends go to these, 2 go to "normal" colleges. Each has advantages and disadvantages - It seems like if you have a family, kids etc the mature ones are better, but if you don't have as many "strings" and want more of the "university experience", "normal colleges" seem better.

Choosing the uni and getting accepted are the easy part

Party_Animal

SnowyOwl wrote:

Gosh Party_Animal, I am very impressed!

I'm in my late 30's and interested in going to university next year - I'd love to hear your tips on choosing which course, choosing a university, getting accepted, managing money, fitting in, and anything else to do with being a mature student.
First of all don't make the mistake I madw which was to choose the course which followed on from my college work work and wasn't necessarily the best career move ( its worked out ok) I went to York because I liked it there and they were rated very highly in my chosen subjects. I had no problems at all fitting in. There are clubs for mature students but I stuck with the young ones and made some very good friends. The money bit wasn't easy but I had been a plumber and my old boss found me work in the hols. I'd never been to the theatre im my life till I went to York. Now I've seen hundreds of plays and met people from all over the world and all walks of life. Got to dash now but will check this thread later.

Party_Animal

Just one point; whatever anyone else advises, the main thing is you don't want to spend the rest of your life thinking if only I'd gone for it.
You only live once.
That's enough lecturing now back to the footie!

Clareo

If you're in Wales you can also get an Welsh National Assembley Learning Grant which is £1500 a year, non-repayable. Anyone can get it, it's specifically for people on low incomes but when you're a mature student it goes on your income as opposed to your parents so as mature students tend to give up their entire income to become a student they get the full amount!