how do i become a mature student?

sarahblonde2018

At 40 I am going nowhere in life and really want to do a course degree/access course. I have done some research but I can't find any real answers, how do I study at college/uni and pay my mortgage as a single person? I know there are grants and loans available for the course but how do I live and pay my bills?
I am currently employed full time in a fairly good job, but I have no savings and the course is not related to my job (new career) therefore they wont pay obviously!
please help!
Sarah

Sncjw

If you haven!!!8217;t been to uni you can apply for loans from student loans it can cover fees and living costs but not massive amount. People work part time as well

SWMBO

Have you considered studying part time, either at your local university, or through the Open University?

NineDeuce

You stop drinking snakebites every weekend and start drinking real ale or brandy....

SensibleSarah

I was able to do it (over 10 years ago now) but at that time I had no mortgage, no car to run etc so was able to live in very cheap shared houses (with people I knew) and keep outgoings to a minimum. I basically lived on around £400 a month all in for those 3 years. I got a small maintenance grant (which no longer exists) which covered some of my room rent, and took loans for the tuition fees etc. I also worked as much as I could as my course wasn't really full time, although officially it was. The third year I think I had about 6 hours a week of lectures and the rest was independent study - but obviously this depends on the course you take.

Now I have a mortgage, car and lots of other financial responsibilities in a single-income household, there is no way I could do a full time course with the system the way it is currently - the only way would be to save up as much as possible for a year or two and do the course part time over a longer period.

It was totally worth it for me to do though. It wasn't even a vocational course, but it opened a way to a whole new career once I had the degree, which I've been working in ever since and enjoy infinitely more than what I did previously.

El_Rey

SensibleSarah - It's great to hear that going to uni as a mature student worked out well for you. Out of interest, what did you study and what do you do for a living now?

WibblyGirly

I've gone to uni as a mature student. I started with an OU module to see if studying was really right for me (paid for by SLC loan).
I worked out the costs and going to brick uni worked out better as I got the full tuition and living loans/grant paid to me as I was over 25 and earning minimum wage.
I was only on £14k working full time so I actually had a bit more money after starting uni (part time job and was given a grant from the uni for being poor) and this really helped towards the cost of books.

Do you have a spare room in your house that you could rent out to help with income? If financially you need to work full time at your current wage you'll be best off looking at OU courses. If you just need full time minimum wage you could find an evening job like in a bar that would work around lecture times.

sarahblonde2018

Thanks will look into this!

sarahblonde2018

Looked at OU but soooo expensive and i prefer the college environment. Its one for consideration though.

sarahblonde2018

Its looking impossible now unfortunately. Noone is going to pay my mortgage!

jobbingmusician

That's why it was suggested that you get a lodger, though. Could you rearrange your property so that it became like a student place, with several of you sharing?