Advice please re journalism by distance learning

[mockeveryweek]

At the grand old age of 41 I have decided that I no longer want to stay in the job I have worked for 23 years to get to!

It's going to be a long term goal but I really want to be a writer and am very interested in journalsim. I have no qualifications above an O Level and can't affford to study full time.

I have been looking at distance learning with the London School of Journalism. I could do a course in 9-15 months at relatively low cost and am thinking this is a good start while I try and figure out whether this is a realistic career choice for me?

Does anyone in the know about these things have any advice? Is this a good option?

[eatyourveg]

I did that course when I was 42. (I got a distinction) Having no qualifications above an O level isn't a bar in fact the first assignment is to write all about yourself and what relevant skills you have and what your motivation for doing the course is. There are various specialisms you can do. I did freelance and feature writing. I had already had a couple of articles published in the press and I got them without any sort of journalistic qualification.

The NCTJ courses hold more weight but the LSJ is a good intro in getting you into the discipline of writing to a deadline (albeit you have 2 years to complete the course) but having to write to a strict word count is I found by far the hardest aspect. They do online lectures which were useful although really more like a webchat with a lecturer and various students from around the globe.

The background legwork is the hard especially with a young family - actually writing the thing up is relatively easy (except editing to the word count) The unit on law is fascinating, the hardest unit was television and radio.

PM me if you want to know more