Ex-Student with mental issues needs ur advice

needuradvice

hi guys,

I'm an ex-student who completed a BSc Computer Science degree back in 1999. I unfortunately after graduating became very depressed and this ill-period continued for almost a decade.

Fortunately I'm feeling better now, but because i've been ill for so long, i've forgotten most of what my degree taught me. Currently I'm not working and I can't get a job as I have no experience and neither will any employers give me a job, as i've had a gap of almost 10 years after graduation.

I now want to have a career change and do another diploma course/degree, but financially, i can't afford it.

I am also deaf in both ears. My questions are:-

1. Is there any financial help for people like me?

2. If so, then how do i go about getting such help?

Thank You Very Much

newmum1

Hi I think you should contact studentfinance go on their website and that should be able to answer your questions.
What would you want to study another degree or just further training?
Although if you wanted to do another degree i wouldnt have thought that you would get help in the form of a student loan anyway, but im not an expert

needuradvice

thanks newmum.

I don't mind doing any course which has good job prospects. My ideal job would be in the NHS and I'm looking for possibly NVQ 2/3 or HND DIPLOMA in order to get a job.

purplerose

The NHS can be quite good at taking on folk with no qualifications and training them up. I have a few friends who started with them as general office staff and have now been trained up to be systems analysts and IT technicians within a few years. My neighbour also got a job with them as a cleaner then applied and got a job as a phlebotomist and then moved on to work in the labs and is now a supervisor of some kind. So it might be worth just applying for jobs and seeing what happens without the qualifications?

Failing that, check out the Open University they have a fee waiver for people earning under a certain amount. I'm not sure if you're eligible if you already have a degree but it's worth having a look.

nimbo

purplerose wrote: »

The NHS can be quite good at taking on folk with no qualifications and training them up. I have a few friends who started with them as general office staff and have now been trained up to be systems analysts and IT technicians within a few years. My neighbour also got a job with them as a cleaner then applied and got a job as a phlebotomist and then moved on to work in the labs and is now a supervisor of some kind. So it might be worth just applying for jobs and seeing what happens without the qualifications?
QUOTE]

the probelm with the NHS at the moment is that most areas will be trying to cut costs by aproximately 40%....

PCT's are to be abolished in approxiamtely 18 months, and GP's will be commissioning...

if you want to have a career in the NHS then it may be best to get some clinical training, maybe working as a HCA or something?????

i suppose you could start looking at vacancies at GP's etc, but an admin type job may be hard to find ATM as mostly they will come under the heading 'management costs'... sorry to be so doom and gloom, i just think it may be beneficial to try services such as connexions (oop nroth they have a service available for adults also) and have you tried getting any help from the job centre etc???? also there may be a chance that you can still get advice from your universities careers advice cecntre - i think i can for about 10 - 15 years after leaving it may be worth a call.

MrsManda

In terms of working for the NHS have a look at the NHS Careers website. This will give you information on the types of careers available, what training is required and funding options.

Many social work, medicine, dentistry, nursing and teaching courses are exempt from the withdrawal of ELQ (equivalent or lower qualifications) funding. There was also discussions around students receiving Disabled Students Allowance being exempt though I don't know whether this was put into practise and whether it means students who had DSA with their previous qualifications or people who'd be eligible for it if they were to apply for a new ELQ qualification.

I found the information about ELQ and exemptions on the HEFCE website but it was published in 2008 so I don't know if it's now in place.

Have you done any work since you started to recover from your illness? Before considering taking on a new qualification have you considered doing some voluntary work in order to gain some new skills, recent references, and evidence that you are capable of working?

In many cases, experience working as a volunteer will more valuable in getting you a job than another qualification.

Have you spoken to a support officer at the job centre to see if they can get you on a back to work programme/ help you prepare to get back into work? They may be able to provide you with information on training schemes etc...

needuradvice

thanks very much guys.

i rang my local college, who to be honest very not very understanding...in fact she was damn right rude! she said that because i've already done a degree level course, i will get NO FUNDING.

I explained that i am on benefits and have a disability, but my words fell on deaf ears.

@ MrsManda - No i have done no paid work at all. I've been doing voluntary work with Age Concern..i.e maintaining one of their website which they still haven't launched. My caseworker is currently looking at courses for me, but to be honest i seem to know more than her.

...and then they say people are out of jobs and scrounging on benefits...how do they expect we find jobs if there is no proper help available?

Oldernotwiser

needuradvice wrote: »

thanks very much guys.

i rang my local college, who to be honest very not very understanding...in fact she was damn right rude! she said that because i've already done a degree level course, i will get NO FUNDING.

I explained that i am on benefits and have a disability, but my words fell on deaf ears.

@ MrsManda - No i have done no paid work at all. I've been doing voluntary work with Age Concern..i.e maintaining one of their website which they still haven't launched. My caseworker is currently looking at courses for me, but to be honest i seem to know more than her.

...and then they say people are out of jobs and scrounging on benefits...how do they expect we find jobs if there is no proper help available?

I'm afraid that the college is right. If you already have a degree you can't get help with funding a lower level qualification. When funds are tight these have to be managed fairly and giving more funding to someone who has already received it really isn't fair.

stephyt23

As the poster above has said you can't receive funding for a lower level qualification when you already have a degree. Colleges offer funding only if it's your first qualification of that level, and haven't already got something equivalent or higher.

I'm not sure where, or if, you can get funding elsewhere because you already have a degree and so are likely to have already received one lot of funding when you did that. Have you tried speaking to anyone at the job centre? Maybe they could offer further advice?

needuradvice

thanks guys...

...well i guess thats ended my career then

Can you guys think of any other path that can help me back into work?

stephyt23

needuradvice wrote: »

thanks guys...

...well i guess thats ended my career then

Can you guys think of any other path that can help me back into work?

Not necessarily, don't give up yet.

Ask to speak to someone at the job centre or a careers advisor at the college to see if they know of any funding or alternative ways into your career, or even try and find someone at the NHS to speak to as that's where you want to work. There could be other ways that people on this forum don't know about.

I don't know if there's anything on this website that may be of use to you:

http://careersadvice.direct.gov.uk/

There's also a contact and email on the NHS careers site:

http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/

So don't give up on this, there may even be ways of doing these things part time so you could gain work experience at the same time.

Good luck!