too old?

tiernsee

My mother left school at 14, married at 17, two children by 24 and at age around 32 started going back to college, did O-levels, A-levels, a degree and a PGCE. By 40 she was a qualified teacher and spent the next twenty years teaching till she retired.

At 32 I started a MBA which gave me far more choices and career opportunities than before.


So 32 is not too old, you don't want to look back and regret that you didn't take a chance or an opportunity. Hope all works out for you

msb5262

I hope 32 isn't too late - I'm in my late 40s and am watching UCAS like a hawk to see if I've got a response...applying for nurse training! Go OP...

claire16c

I'm also thinking of retraining to become a social worker or something along those lines. So for the past year I've been working with children & volunteering part time with Home Start.

If you have a first class or 2:1 honours degree you could apply to do the course which allows you to earn at the same time instead of doing an entire degree

https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/supporting-social-workers-to-provide-help-and-protection-to-children/supporting-pages/canparent-trial

marisco_2

msb5262 wrote: »

I hope 32 isn't too late - I'm in my late 40s and am watching UCAS like a hawk to see if I've got a response...applying for nurse training! Go OP...

Good luck, hope you get a positive response soon.

justme111

One of my friends done open uni course and then masters at 50. He works in a new field now and does not regret it .

Girlzmum

I went to uni at 28 and retrained as a nurse, I can honestly say it's one of the best things I've ever done and I absolutely love my job. However, me going back gave my mum the incentive to start her nurse training as well and she qualified as a nurse last year at the age of 57 :T

easilydistracted

As a qualified social worker (now in management type role), I would think 32 is probably a good age to think about starting the course. From my recall that's probably the average age of students on the course. I think the oldest was around 50.

It's a really intense course, you will require a degree unless you already have one. You have to do work placements around loads of essays so probably not the right time now for you. There are also some minimum work requirements to get on the course usually.

I also don't want to start a massive debate, but the 'Stand up to Social Work' programme is very controversial at the moment in social work and there is some question whether this will really equip practitioners with the required theory and skillset to practice in such a challenging role. I think I would have struggled with only that as a background, but each to their own (I also qualified pretty young, not something I would particularly recommend).

Some of the unqualified roles suggested are a really good grounding, I learnt no end of practical skills working in a children's home prior to and while qualify.

Notsosharp

I'm 34 and I'm thinking of going into social work....problem is I have a degree (law) but it's only 2:2 (although with honours). I'm also thinking about going into teaching so I'm hoping 32 isn't too old!