How common is it to return to education?

[niwod]

Hi,

My daughter has just graduated from Oxford with a languages degree. She lost interest in the language about half way through, so got a middling 2.1. She was just glad to be finished as on top of covid, she’s had a really really tough few years. (Her dad almost died etc)

She’s accepted a job to train as a lawyer, but isn’t one hundred percent certain if she wants to do this for ever. We are a normal middle class family (public sector) so have been to university but don’t have the funds for a postgraduate degree, nor would we qualify for many means tested bursaries. Stuck in the middle.

So my question is, how common is it for high flyers to go and train in a career and then go back to do a masters or something? Do they feel too old?

If you're talking about doing a Masters in their 30's - very very very common! (And £11k non-means tested loan funding is available to do it if they haven't done one before.)

If you're talking about starting again entirely from undergraduate level, not common simply due to the cost if you already have a degree. (Though if you do a STEM degree part time you can get a second loan, and second loans are available for a lot of healthcare courses.)

Your daughter will qualify for a postgrad loan if she wants to study a masters of post grad qualification. Many students work alongside their studies as the loan is to cover tuition fees and living costs.

Most Postgrad students would be young and having newly completed an undergraduate qualification but some older students may also be on the course it would really depend on the course and the institution etc.

There is much more of a mix of age groups at postgraduate level than there is at undergraduate level.

Very normal. We have Masters students across the whole age range and I have PhD students who have retired early and are following their more mature interests.

It’s very common indeed - and everyone who considers it thinks that no one else has ever done it.

Take a look here:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/site_stuff/4327788-Is-there-a-specific-Mature-Study-Retraining-board?msgid=110096218