working in care, want to progress, is a degree the way to go?

loulou123

Hello sorry if this is in the wrong place...

I'm currently working as a carer in a care home and am looking at progressing further within this industry. I have no real qualifications in this sector (apart from in house training and I'm a qualified first aider.)

I do however have qualifications in many other subjects - 11 gcses, a levels in art and English, level 3 diploma in legal secretary skills and various computer and admin qualifications.

My employer has put me on the diploma level 3 for health and social care, but this has become a joke, as we are still on the 1st unit 7 months on (there is a group of us doing it and we are all made to work on it at same speed, they also keep cancelling appointments to view the practical side of it.)

I am seriously considering doing the open university health and social care degree, but I'm nearly 34 and the degree could take 6 years (as I need to work at same time) have I left it to late?

I love my job but feel as though I need to progress from being a care assistant (no offence to anyone - I've been doing the job for 4 years now.)

Any one got any ideas on where to go from here?

cara89

Hi Loulou,

You are never to old for anything my mom's just completed a foundation degree and she's nearly 50 so please don't think your not able to do, in regards to the OU degrees they are lengthy but if you have the time and the patience then I say go for it.

If not depending on where you live some colleges have foundation degrees which are at level 4/5 and can be done on a part time basis for over 3 years which is a lot less than the OU.

Hope this helps

Person_one

As far as I can see, the only real ways to 'progress' from unqualified care work is to go into the management side of care homes/agencies, or to train and qualify as a professional such as a nurse, physio, OT, social worker etc.

Even the most experienced and senior care workers around are still pretty poorly paid and do the same sort of work as those just starting out.

If you did the health and social degree, what would you be hoping to get from it? Where do you want it to take you? I'm 28 and nearing the end of my second year on a 3 year nursing degree, there are lots of mature students on my course, including plenty in their forties and even fifties so don't let age stop you!

loulou123

Thank you both for your replies

I'm some what limited in my options as I need to work full time whilst studying, which is why distance learning is only real option. I would also need to get a student loan to pay for it, which as someone whose never been in debt is a scary thought.

Nice to hear I'm not too old lol, this was an unintentional career change (was a legal secretary for years, but was made redundant and as had experiance of caring for a relative, thought I'd give it a go till I found another secretary job - but I actually love this line of work now.)

I guess a more managerial position would be the ultimate goal long-term, but there is no where to progress to without further qualifications.

kingfisherblue

It may be worth having a chat to your employer about the level 3 NVQ not progressing - presumably they are paying the assessor to go through everything with you, and if it is taking so long, your employer might be interested and hurry up the assessor.

You might also want to look at being a team leader. Your admin skills could be very handy in this role, and it will give you practical experience should you decide to progress towards being a manager.

Also, look at what type of care role you have. Are you in a home or in the community? Are your clients elderly, disabled, or a mix? Would you like to specialise? My daughter worked for an agency in the community, and had always enjoyed working with disabled people. For the last year, though, she has worked in a retirement village and she loves it. Pay isn't too bad either, compared to other care work in this area. She is paid at level 2 and earns £8.19 an hour - a different company advertised in our local paper last week, paying £7.19 for a level 2, and £7.59 for a manager.

The OU is a great way to learn, but you may also want to consider a part time foundation degree if there is a university close enough to where you live. It does depend, of course, on your shifts as well. Part time, a FD will usually take three years, with one afternoon or evening of study a week, plus home study. You can then top up your degree, either one year full time or two years part time. Full time is usually one full day or two half days a week, plus home study.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do x

loulou123

I work in a nursing care home specializing in dementia and mental health for the elderly and I think the mental health side is one I'd like to continue in (part of the reason the OU appeals to me is you can do the degree with a mental health pathway.)

We don't have team leaders, we have senior carers, but you cannot be a senior without the diploma level 3 at least, so I have nowhere to progress to without some more qualifications.

National_Careers_Service

Hello loulou123,

People have made some great points here about ways in which you can look at and work through your situation.

From what I can tell, it looks as though you’re particularly interested in the Open University degree course – have you thought about how you might decide if this course will provide you with the skills and/or knowledge to progress into the roles that are available to you within the care industry.


It sounds to me as though it could be a good exercise for you to carry out a bit of research to help you with this. Have you started to look at job vacancies within the care industry to check what these roles require? While looking at these, you could imagine that you have completed the Open University course as see if the knowledge gained on this would enable you to meet the criteria for vacancies. If you’re not sure where to look for vacancies within the care industry, you could make a start by having a look at these:

• Community Care Jobs
• LGjobs

Hopefully a bit of research might make it easier to make your decision about where to take your career next. Good luck with it.

VanillaRose

I was going to suggest a Health and Social Care level 3 qualification but it seems you've already tried that route with no success (not due to your fault!).

In all honesty I don't think a degree would be worth it in your sector - experience is more likely to be more useful. If you look hard enough and for long enough I think something will show up that'll be great. It's just a matter of time I suppose. All the fees and loans at the end of it wouldn't be worth it (in my opinion), unless you really feel you need it to progress to specific roles then I wouldn't bother. Applying for managerial positions may be a good option, or perhaps going for jobs in care that offer new challenges. People with specific disabilities who need specialist help, etc. Either way, I hope you find what you're looking for

Croatoan

I'm a Mental Health Nurse. My first bit of advice would be to move heaven and earth to get into the NHS as a carer if you decide against a degree. It's not necessarily easy but perhaps you could get on a bank or even do some Agency work which might get your face known. It is rare, but not impossible, that NHS carers can be seconded to Nurse training and therefore you are on a full wage throughout your degree. It's an option, but clearly places are few and far between.
The sad thing is that with your experience and qualifications I'd bet you get onto a Nursing degree with no problems, especially if you wanted to work with the elderly. I was 44 when I started my nurse training with no experience at all. You're definitely not too old. It's one of the few jobs left where maturity is valued.
In my experience, for most people anyway, working as a carer for a private company is a dead end as far as a career goes. Pay is dreadful, work is very hard, promotion is rare and the rise in pay on promotion miniscule, 10p an hour in some cases and for much more responsibility. The NHS does offer a career path for carers if you can get in, which in these times of cutbacks is, I'd agree, far from easy.
As others have said, if you have transport then looking a community role is an option, usually from those I've spoken to who've done it, a more interesting and better paid option at that.
Financially going for degree in nursing is difficult, though I think your fees are paid you do of course need money to live off and a student loan isn't enough to survive on alone. I've known student nurses complete a degree while working part-time to supplement the loan, but it's tough.
I wish you the best of luck.

Mrs_Ryan

Just to add onto what Croatoan is saying, you and I are very similar OP but unfortunately its not entirely correct - nursing courses at the minute are very heavily oversubscribed and so therefore the requirements are very strict and very high.

I'm 32 and currently doing the same diploma/NVQ thing, like you OP having a horrendous time with the college being useless, I have 9 GCSE's, 3 A-Levels (including like you OP, English) a CertHe from Northumbria Uni in English and Health and Social Care, plus five years HCA experience on an NHS dementia ward and personal caring experience in looking after OH who has psychosis and delusional disorder for six years and I cannot get on a nursing course for love nor money, I've been rejected by every uni I've applied to. I work for a Partnership trust that does not support secondment and my ward has a low staff turnover as the vast majority of the staff have been there years. Working for the NHS is well paid but it aint all its cracked up to be!!
Good luck, I would be interested to know what you decide as I have one more crack at uni applying next year (it was my first choice that rejected me for being too late) before i have to make a similar decision.

loulou123

Thanks for everyone's opinion and advice.

I'm not sure if it varies by area, but I have friends who have tried for 2 or 3 years to get onto nursing degree courses with no success, so it does appear to be oversubscribed here.

I've applied for several jobs over the last year with the NHS, but they won't employ me until I have some qualification in care (like the nvq 3) so I really do need some formal qualification to enable me to move on.

I am looking into all options at moment, including doing the diploma 3 independently (paying for it myself) degrees and the health and social care btec or a level.