Mature Student and DMP

braken2000

Hi Everyone

Not sure if this is the right section (dos try the student section but was told I might get a better response in this section :-))to post on so apologies if it is wrong. Am hoping that someone can help with this question as googling does not seem to bring anything up.

Basically I am looking at returning to studies next year in either nursing or one of the AHP's. Either way it will be a healthcare profession. I am looking at London universities as I have nothing up here (Bradford) really and would like the challenge. My question is I have a DMP with StepChange currently and am wanting to know what would happen with that if I returned to being a student? I have already done HE education but am not happy with what I am doing and after volunteering in healthcare for almost three years would like to make the jump.

Thanks in advance everyone :-)

thewhiteavenger

Are you saying that you will be unable to afford the current monthly payments? Talk about this to Stepchange. One option would be to change the plan - I understand their minimum is £5 per creditor.

If this results in an unreasonably long timescale then there might be a better option. But we'd need more detail - like a statement of affairs with your new circumstances - to advise on this.

braken2000

A SOA is tricky at the moment as only just started to look into it. My main concern is that because I will not be able to afford the monthly payment (currently £150 pm) which I know as a student I would not be able to afford.

Mattygroves2

Do your SOA properly before deciding where to go as you are planning to move to the most expensive place to live in the UK. Unless the qualification you'll get will be significantly better (or rather perceived to be better by employers) then it makes more sense to go somewhere where the cost of living is much lower - Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham etc - where you would still get city life if that is what is drawing you towards London.

Your DMP will be revised in line with your new SOA but then will obviously take longer to complete.

moohound

Hull uni offers all branches of Nursing and Operating Department Practitioner degrees and it is very cheap to live here.

sourcrates

So if you go back to being a student, how do you intend to cover your living expenses ? forgive me, but I'm not up on all things educational !!


Don't you have to pay them now ? also if your not earning while you do this studying, your DMP will fail, and you'll end up with your creditors chasing you again, you could make token £1 payments, but they wont accept that for long, depends how much you owe, and to whom, and how long you expect it will take to gain your qualification.

sourcrates

moohound wrote: »

Hull uni offers all branches of Nursing and Operating Department Practitioner degrees and it is very cheap to live here.

Brandsholme and the like lol


To be fair, it is a very good uni, and very popular !!!

moohound

sourcrates wrote: »

Brandsholme and the like lol


To be fair, it is a very good uni, and very popular !!!

Any area with social deprivation means a population with more complex pathologies which are interesting and instructive for learners, don't go somewhere too posh they don't have enough sick people

nursing and odp courses attract an nhs bursary

braken2000

I wold get an NHS bursary and possibly another student loan but have to check with SLC on that.

I am looking at ODP as possibly my main choice now so will have a good look around. Not sure what it is about London that attracts me but there is something about it. But obviously that takes a back seat when it comes to finances.

concrete_kid

Okay, this is not exactly answering the question you are asking but it's advice about your situation all the same.

I'm currently a mature nursing student living in Liverpool. If you can get a band 2 (healthcare assistant) job part time while you are training and you are entitled to the full bursary, which I presume you are, you can coe out with over £1000 per month. So could potentially continue paying your DMP.

However possibly not whilst paying rent in London. I could certainly afford to pay a £150 debt at the moment, however I do share a flat and cycle to work which keeps cost down.

If you can manage to get 1 shift per week (I do one 11.5 hour shift) and try and make sure it is Sunday or a night shift , you'll take home about 1100 with your bursary as your wages are not taxed.

There is also plenty of oppurturtunity to do extra shifts when you are in uni and not on placement as you are not always in every day. I manage fine on one long day a week and have not had to take out a loan, although it can take some negotiation when you are on placement.

Hope that helps

meroko

I am a second year nursing student. I am only starting on the debt process, so cannot answer that.

However, I can tell you what it's like living on a student bursary. Even those on maximum only get about £500 per month and supplement their bursary with working part-time. London is very expensive to live, I would not even remotely consider London on a low income.

What about Northumbria? It's far enough away from where you are to seem an adventure. Its the cheapest place in the UK to live, in the heart of Newcastle and it's one of the best universities for nursing in the UK. An incredibly high hire rate post-university in the local area as well. If you opt for Northumbria trust, rather than Newcastle, it's one of the few trusts in the UK that guarantees you an interview for all students working within that trust.