What fees would I have to pay?

Pauper_Princess

Hi all,

I'm thinking about going to uni as a mature student, but it's been so long since I left school that I really have no idea how much it would cost me!!

I'm a 32 y/o accountant (enough said :rolleyes: ) and I don't know how much longer I can do this job! I've done it for 13 years now and I absolutely hate it. The thing is I'm chartered so I earn a decent wage - OH is a postie and doesn't earn much at all.

Where can I find out how and what I have to pay if I do go to uni? Will I have to pay the £3,000 tuition fee, does everyone pay this? Are there other course fees on top? How much would a year's books be? I don't know what I'd be studying... the only things I was good at at school were English and History but that won't lead me to a job (one of the main reasons I never went when I was younger!). But I've studied for 6 years for this job even though I hate it, so I reckon I could probably stick at pretty much anything after that!

A uni near me runs a women-only access course into science which I looked into a year ago and didn't follow up. Would a science-based course cost more?

Sorry for all the questions, I feel incredibly thick Thanks for listening!

r.mac_2

hi there

my best advice is work out what you want to do first. Being a mature student is difficult and its a lot easier if you are studying something you love or is a necessary qualification for your future career.

Course fees differ hugely - and may also depend on your current level of education.

My best suggestion is that you work out what you want to do and then research your options by finding out what institutions offer the course, and contact them directly for costs. They can also usually tell you if there are bursary's you can apply for.

I'm a mature student at teh moment - PM me if you want to talk about it further

HTH

DrFluffy

Do you have a degree already? That really changes things.

If you don't, it works as per 18 year old, except your partner's income is taken in to consideration for means testing. If your income is less than a set abount, you will be entitled to have your fee's paid, a maintanence grant ('free') and a full loan (you have to pay back!).

All you need to know can be found here:http://www.studentsupportdirect.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=1647,467417&_dad=portal&_schema=PROTOCOL

Diminutive

Hey! I think mature students are cool, there's a guy on my course who's 33, he's a cool guy and he said he really enjoys the course. That's not related or useful though

The £3,000 tution fee is a max cap that they can charge... it is possible that a foundation access course would have a lower fee. There are no course fee's on top of this Depending on the course it is possible that there are other things you may need to get that wouldn't be supplied by the university, such as lab coats, materials etc. Books can really vary depending on the course. Personally I get mine out from the library so they havent cost me a penny (except about £4 in late fees!), some of the people on my course have spent about £100 a semester... thats on a information science and business course.
Anyhow the site that explains all the student finance is http://www.studentsupportdirect.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=1647,468488&_dad=portal&_schema=PROTOCOL

The finance is the same for mature students, the only difference is its based on your income rather than your parents.

hope this helps

opps! people are faster typers than i =p

Pauper_Princess

Thanks for your replies guys!!

That link to the studentsupport site was fantastic, thanks! The one-year access course I think is fees paid (just going onto the site to check) but obviously the 3 or 4 year degree following it isn't! If I poke around the uni website I can probably find out how much yearly fees etc are, but now I know what I might be able to get in the way of grants (thought they'd long since disappeared!) and loans.

All I need to do is decide what I want to study, and persuade OH that I've not completely lost my marbles

Oldernotwiser

You wouldn't get your fees paid (nobody does) but you'd be eligible to take out a loan to cover them. If you're looking to do a science degree without a science qualification, see if any suitable universities offer a foundation year (not a Foundation Degree) for people with the wrong academic background. These count as year 0 of a degree and mean that you come under the funding for higher education as described above. This funding isn't available for Access courses. Good luck.

r.mac_2

Diminutive wrote:

Hey! I think mature students are cool, there's a guy on my course who's 33, he's a cool guy and he said he really enjoys the course. That's not related or useful though

The £3,000 tution fee is a max cap that they can charge... it is possible that a foundation access course would have a lower fee. There are no course fee's on top of this Depending on the course it is possible that there are other things you may need to get that wouldn't be supplied by the university, such as lab coats, materials etc. Books can really vary depending on the course. Personally I get mine out from the library so they havent cost me a penny (except about £4 in late fees!), some of the people on my course have spent about £100 a semester... thats on a information science and business course.
Anyhow the site that explains all the student finance is http://www.studentsupportdirect.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=1647,468488&_dad=portal&_schema=PROTOCOL

The finance is the same for mature students, the only difference is its based on your income rather than your parents.

hope this helps

opps! people are faster typers than i =p

note that this depends only if it is your first degree. I am doing a second and it is costing me £7000 per year for three years for fees alone :eek: And that is me means tested on myself alone, with no income.

just another thing to think about

DrFluffy

r.mac wrote:

note that this depends only if it is your first degree. I am doing a second and it is costing me £7000 per year for three years for fees alone :eek: And that is me means tested on myself alone, with no income.

just another thing to think about

I know - I did ask if this was her first degree...

If you are being means tested against yourself for a student loan, someone has given you wrong, wrong information...

r.mac_2

DrFluffy wrote:

I know - I did ask if this was her first degree...

If you are being means tested against yourself for a student loan, someone has given you wrong, wrong information...

i can't be means tested against anyone else as i am classed as totally independant from parents and not married. I get full student loan capacity should I wish to borrow that much.

My fees are still means tested. but as its my second degree this is wiped out and I automatically have to pay full whack.

DrFluffy

r.mac wrote:

i can't be means tested against anyone else as i am classed as totally independant from parents and not married. I get full student loan capacity should I wish to borrow that much.

My fees are still means tested. but as its my second degree this is wiped out and I automatically have to pay full whack.

I know you can't be means tested. I'm a second undergrad degree-er... But that's not what you said. You said you were means tested against yourself...

You will not be means tested for your fees, as as a graduate you have no entitlement to fees help at all if you recieved public purse 'help' for your first degree...

kittiwoz

Just to point out that while a degree in English or History wouldn't directly lead you into any particular job that doesn't mean that it wouldn't increase your job prospects in plenty of areas that aren't accountancy although the effect would be less than on a school leaver because you have a lot of work experience and your chartered accountant status already demonstrates learning aptitude.

It is very hard to give course advice without knowing what you're ultimately interested in doing which I realise is a catch 22 is you don't really know yourself but if you were interested in these subjects at school maybe it would be a good idea to contact some degree courses and see what sort of jobs their alumni have gone on to. I think you probably need to do a lot of research to find out about what sort of courses are on offer and try to find something that inspires you. It is no good doing science just for a change of direction if it doesn't interest you (not that I'm saying it doesn't but you need to find out). I think you would be better off doing an access course rather than a foundation year because access has a broader scope which I think would give you a taste of a wide area and help you make an informed decision as to what aspects really interest you. Also access is aimed at mature students and will help you get back into the swing of being in education whereas foundation years are aimed at school leavers and will assume you are used to being in education and have good study skills fresh in your mind. (I'm also no to sure about them being classed as HE, they are rather like art foundations which are BTEC and are A-level equivalent so I would think they are FE courses though I may be wrong.)