How am I supposed to afford college at 30 with 2 children?

princessdon

duchy wrote: »

Do you really mean it will be silent or did you mean Moot ?

It was a pun as OP hasn't replied if eligible :rotfl:

Seriously I phone posting, auto correct and my lack of proof reading (can you guess English isn't my forte?) is my bad I'm afraid. Where can I do a Literacy Course?

But on that note - the other thing I'd advise OP is to visit her local Childrens Centre. Many offer

A) Literacy/Numeracy Brush up to Level 2 free with childcare (regardless of income)
Volunteering if she truly wants to be a social worker with free childcare

Both of which would be highly useful if this is something for the future.

Off to do some spell checking :eek:

marybelle01

Russe11 wrote: »

Lets revert back to the OP, if they can not afford they should use the current system to maximise their income, the family income pays into the taxation system, but does not take out of by claiming the tax credit they are entitled to.

Why do they then question that it can not be afforded?

The most obvious point is the amount spent on housing, the high rent that drains over 50% of the houshold income, is it not that obvious?

Quite apart from the fact that this in no way addresses your offensive remarks about women, or anything I said... .. What? It doesn't even make sense. Drunk again?

cashbackproblems

Why not do evening/weekend courses at your local college which will give you alot more vocational skills and help you find work in e.g. IT, book keeping, AAT, Languages etc. These are usually very cheap/free if you are claiming some benefits. University will cost the earth and probably not be worth it given the job market.

Also i agree with the other comments, why are you renting and wasting so much each month when you could get a mortgage? Personally speaking and sorry if this sounds harsh, but it doesnt seem like you are in a position to do a full time course, all this should have been done before kids, i would think your better off doing courses and working part time and getting on the property ladder. If your paying 1.1k p/m for a 3 bedroom house, prices cant be that high where you are

penguin83

Hi. I agree with what others have said about the OU. They do short Openings courses as well to get you back in the swing of education and to give you a taster of courses. I have 2 young children, work full time and I have almost completed my law degree with the OU. It is hard going but I study at lunchtimes and after the children are in bed and I pay my course fees monthly meaning that I will graduate with no extra debt. Have a nosey on their website as they have a huge range of courses.

Good luck xx

Dunroamin

princessdon wrote: »

I agree - Poor choice of wording

But disagree with the level jumpers, but would have agreed until recent years. I haven't got exact numbers to hand ATM but my educated guess is approx 60% of Access students that I deal with are level jumpers. It has been made real easy for mature students (due to financially getting it free, flexible learning times - day and evening) and more to the point the fact they only appear to have to do an online Literacy/Numeracy test to assess base level for acceptance. Given it is a multiple choice question exercise most 10 year olds can answer (and yes my child passed aged 9) it results in a lot of mature students getting level jumping funding. This as you can imagine leaves a task and half for the tutor sadly. But again (though this is certainly not my field so I am going off emails I haven't read fully) this is due to change in September 2012 when a more rigourous format of adult literacy/numeracy is coming into force. Though that will be mute as the guidance I have seen via email (but this isn't really job I just read boring emails), this level jumping is going.

Op never said that they didn't have a level 2 anyway or responded to this and my post, but personally if I was in their position I'd be ringing their local college and seeing if they *may* (note the may - I do learn lol) be able to help as some are offering June-June and a discount on childcare. Nothing ventured, nothing gained - and most FE colleges have open evenings in May so don't even need an appointment.

Thanks for the information; it obviously has changed somewhat in the last couple of years. (Heaven help the Access tutors!):)

duchy

I worked fulltime shift work (I'd write essays on quiet night shifts) whilst studying for the OU (and had a toddler) it's tough but it can be done but you do need the support of your partner too as it's very hard to do without (not impossible I know single parents who have done it-but an unsupportive or partner who begrudges the study time makes it twice as hard-I've seen students struggle with this-it ain't pretty)

duchy

princessdon wrote: »

It was a pun as OP hasn't replied if eligible :rotfl:

Seriously I phone posting, auto correct and my lack of proof reading (can you guess English isn't my forte?) is my bad I'm afraid. Where can I do a Literacy Course?

Depends if you need funding !!! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Spendless

I'm :eek: at the amount of your rent against your net household income. Do you get any help towards that? I've no idea if you would as I don't know how housing benefit works. I'm unsure if you will or won't be getting tax credits as with recent changes incomes over £32k with 2 children don't usually unless there are childcare costs (which you don't qualify for) or disabilities in the family (which you haven't said if there are) but pension contributions mean you are under that amount -if that is why you have a lower net income than salary suggests. If you do qualify I should imagine you would receive the family element of tax credits which was around £10 a week.

I think for now you need to accept that a course where you need to pay for childcare isn't feasible at this point in your life and instead look at studying via the routes suggested to you as a starting point, so courses via your children's centre where a free creche runs, or on an evening/weekend when hubby or someone else can babysit or via the OU. I also think you need to do a full SOA and post on the debt free wannabe board in order for you to find where you can make savings.

Lizling

Sadly, 50% of income spent on rent is absolutely normal for London, and in fact £1100pm for a 3-bedroom place sounds pretty good.

I Googled it quickly to see just how bad it's got and several sites are quoting 71% of family income spent on rent.
http://www.net-lettings.co.uk/london-property-news/articles/londoners-spend-71percent-of-income-on-rent-2687

Anyway, back to the main topic: a lot of people are recommending OU. Now, I think the OU is really great and I study through them too but the fees for those not already studying are roughly tripling in September to about £1,250 per module. I think that unfortunately the OP might have missed the boat on that too unless she can fund it by getting some work.

barrywhittakerbmw

skint-mum-of-two wrote: »

Hi

I'm desperate to go back to education to do an acess course but don't know how I'm supposed to afford it. I have 2 children, 1 at school and 1 that will need to go into childcare. I'm 30 years old and my husband is a police officer so earns 35,000.00 and everywhere I look it says I'm not entitled to any help with course or childcare fees. My husband does earn a good wage but we are not left with any spare money at the end of the month and sometimes some bills don't even get paid.

Has anyone got any information that would help me to get back into college please? I'm desperate!

Thank you.

I will keep it short and sweet. Do a distance learning/evening/online learning course from an education provider and complete your certification (whichever field it is). I was interested in AAT (accounting) and did not want to stop my work in my family firm, so I took up distance learning course from the Home Learning College and it is working really well for me. I am learning and earning at the same time. Since, you have kids, going to a college might not be a feasible option, hence opt for distance learning. You will get the books delivered to your home and studying will be very simple. Probably the only time you will need to leave your kids at home will be when you go to your nearest center to write the exams. Decide which course or subject you want to study and find out if there are any exemptions available (it is available with the AAT qualification) and check the career path as well. Might as well do a certification which is updated and will shape your career than studying a course which is obsolete!