Second degree funding?

myzerz

Hi my mum is hoping to study a degree or foundation degree in Psychology. She has a degree already but got no student funding for it, as it was paid for by her work at the time. Due to health problems she is not able to return to her previous work. So this would be somewhat of a move towards a change in career. However it is not a professional qualification, nor is it anything in the NHS. Through doing some adult education courses she has more than a bit of a flair for photography and has already had some of her work put in an exhibition. So she would like to study photography in more depth, to take it to the next level. But money is a real problem and as far as I understand it she would be eligible for the higher fees and mo sort of funding. It would not really be practical for her to jump straight to an MA as it is completely unrelated to her original degree.

Anyway any advice re. funding would be greatly appreciated?
Would she still be excluded from getting financial support with a second degree if she hasn't got financial support previously?
She is currently claiming incapacity benefit, and as previously stated is making a complete career change, would this enable her to access any funding?
If she managed to get together the fees would she get help with DSAs?

Thanks for any advice you may be able to give

dmg24

Can you clarify the following?

myzerz wrote: »

Hi my mum is hoping to study a degree or foundation degree in Psychology.

...

So she would like to study photography in more depth, to take it to the next level.

Does she wish to study both?

The only place that she may get funding for a second degree is OU.

olly300

myzerz wrote: »

. It would not really be practical for her to jump straight to an MA as it is completely unrelated to her original degree.

Has she checked the entrance requirements to the MA with the universities in question?

Different masters degrees have different entrance requirements and for some of them you don't need to have an undergraduate degree at all just relevant practical experience.

Also is she is interested in photography has she talked to different professional photographers to see how they got started.

myzerz

dmg24 wrote: »

Can you clarify the following?



Does she wish to study both?

The only place that she may get funding for a second degree is OU.

No she only wishes to study photography which is far as I understand is not available at the OU. Sorry sometimes my mind replaces words with other words without me noticing.:o

MrsManda

If she wants to work as a photographer, doing a degree in photography is not necessarily the way to go. I found a link to Skillset
on the BIPP website under how to become a professional photographer. Its got links about avenues to take, funding opportunities etc... so thats probably the best thing to look at. Most degrees which are ELQ (equivilent or lower qualifications) of what you've already got are not funded by the government and have higher fees associated with them. Though if your mum classes as disabled her fees may be lowered to the standard for a first degree.

Simon11

I don't wish to be rude and as you can do whatever you want in your life.

Its good doing a course, however what will she get out the course and are there jobs out there requiring it? I can' help that think there can't be too many jobs in that business(As lots of competition from other people) and most would be poorly paid?

Oldernotwiser

Is your mother's medical condition going to improve so that she will be able to take a job?

wontfallforit

myzerz wrote: »

Hi my mum is hoping to study a degree or foundation degree in Psychology. She has a degree already but got no student funding for it, as it was paid for by her work at the time. Due to health problems she is not able to return to her previous work. So this would be somewhat of a move towards a change in career. However it is not a professional qualification, nor is it anything in the NHS. Through doing some adult education courses she has more than a bit of a flair for photography and has already had some of her work put in an exhibition. So she would like to study photography in more depth, to take it to the next level. But money is a real problem and as far as I understand it she would be eligible for the higher fees and mo sort of funding. It would not really be practical for her to jump straight to an MA as it is completely unrelated to her original degree.

Anyway any advice re. funding would be greatly appreciated?
Would she still be excluded from getting financial support with a second degree if she hasn't got financial support previously?
She is currently claiming incapacity benefit, and as previously stated is making a complete career change, would this enable her to access any funding?
If she managed to get together the fees would she get help with DSAs?

Thanks for any advice you may be able to give

Hiya,

As you probably know, funding for non-professional, non-NHS second degrees is virtually non-existent. However, given the fact that she hasn't had student funding beforehand, it may be worth her simply asking whether or not she'd be eligible to take student finance (I'm not sure if the 'no funding for 2nd degree' rule is because the student already has a degree, or because they've already taken funding...or both). Worth a try.

I studied my MA in something completely different from my BA. Totally different subjects than your mum is intending to study, but I found the transition fairly simple (however, I had a gap of just one year in between my BA and MA, so that helped a bit...keeping study techniques fresh in my mind, etc.). I actually achieved much better grades in my MA than BA, regularly getting 70%+, when at undergraduate level I was hovering around the mid 60s, with only the occasional 'first' mark.

A university may well welcome your mum onto an MA course, given the fact that she already has a bachelors, and presumably a great deal of life experience and maturity about her. Obviously she'd have to check specific entry requirements, but it's certainly worth looking at. If for whatever reason she couldn't complete the full MA, she wouldn't necessarily leave empty handed, as partial completion of the course could award her a postgraduate diploma.

An MA could prove to be much cheaper. Mine was 1 year, full time, costing around £3200. Another bachelors would cost at least £6000 over at least 2 years in fees alone, if she decided to enter at level 2, which she may well be entitled to do so.

However, whilst she may have a slight chance of securing bachelors funding, there's be virtually no - if any - financial assistance for an MA, especially where fees are concerned.

DSA might be an option...if you mum has a university in mind, she could always have a look into their DSA eligibility guidelines before applying. In some cases, DSA can be provisionally secured, even before an offer of a study place has been formally given.

student_advisor

Is her first degree with honours? If so, she will be entitled to very little funding. She would have to pay higher fees (circa £10k per year for a bachelors) and would not qualify for any living costs.

She would not have to pay the higher fees if she did a foundation degree or if she was awarded DSA (Disabled Students' Allowance).

Foundation degrees should be relatively common in photography as it's obviously very vocational.

DSA would depend on your mum's needs as a student.