No qualifications but like the idea of sociology ? Have you studied this?

[doghouseparty]

A random ramble... I left school with no/ very bad qualifications and typically now, I regret this dearly. I feel so limited in my choices for work. I have since got married to a wonderful man and moved across the country where he lives and met and become friendly with his friendship groups. It's only now that I feel the burden of not having a proper career and not being able to access better opportunities because of my lack of qualifications ( why do we not listen to our parents) as all my lovely new friends have got very exciting and meaningful careers and in a way I really hate myself that I'm so far behind. It seems so overwhelming having to start from the very beginning to attain some GCSEs to even get anywhere...anyway I think I like the idea of sociology. Have any of you studied this or have any advice ?

Have a look at the OU, they have some free courses for you to try out.

It is interesting and varied as it takes in other areas such as psychology, philosophy, social policy and history. I did a vocational masters afterwards, social work in my case. Could you speak to a careers advisor?

Also you could go along to university open days but these are usually around October time.

I did sociology as level and they did a thing at my college where your parent could do it at the same time so my mum also studied it and got an as level in it . I found it really interesting .

Bit of a Debbie downer here but the job situation even for graduates is abysmal at the moment and also very much depends upon where you are living and the job market locally. Nothing wrong with doing further study or training at all but thinking automatically that having a degree will open up new job and earning potential opportunities is very optimistic. If you were to do one, I’d absolutely recommend a very vocational one like others have mentioned like occupational therapy, physiotherapy, even early years. Even a degree apprenticeship so you can earn and study but as usual the good ones are extremely competitive.

30 is nothing!
I did a business degree in my 30s which has stood me in good stead.
So, the friends that you speak of, what do they do? I would start with identifying what type of job you would like.
It's who you know holds true. Get talking to people, understand what they do, where they work, what other jobs might be going where they work.
It sounds like you are happy with where you live. Work out what is available in your location to start with!
If you are looking to do some study just to get you started, get in touch with your local college for guidance

I did a dual degree (BA Hons) in Criminology and Sociology back in the late 90's- fun and interesting but difficult to get a job in the field though I did work in the police for a while. I then had a career change and did a Nursing diploma followed by a BSc in Healthcare Studies and am now doing a Masters- in hindsight I could have just skipped the first degree but I did have a lot of fun at uni lol 😂

You don’t have to start with GCSE’s.

have a look at access courses. These are a year or so which will get you on to a relevant degree if you choose.

do you have gcse maths and English?

work backwards- have a think about what sort of career you want, then work out whether you need a degree and what in. Then work out whether you can do access or a different route.

I have a sociology degree and now work in insurance law. I would say the degree opened doors for me but wasn't the reason I got the job.

I did a Sociology module at Uni and loved it. My course mate went on to do a Social Work post graduate after it and loves her career now, in adoption services
You'll never be out of work as a Social Worker and it's very interesting and valuable work

Can I please private msg you too? Sort of related!

Do social work. The degree covers sociology, psychology etc

You'd be better off re-sitting something like English and Maths if you got poor grades back in the day. Those are the ones that genuinely open doors.

But if you want to try out a GCSE just for the sake of it, or to get back into the swing of education, then sociology is as good a place to start as any!

I started with an access course, part time over 2 years as the 1 year option was very intensive if you haven’t been in education for a while. I’m now at uni studying a joint degree in sociology and criminology and I love it. I’m doing much better in the sociology modules.

The first year was about a lot of the historical context but second year was very much based in modern sociology, looking at how the digital world has changed and evolved things, modern sociologists and what may happen in the future.

If you are interested in it then I’d say go for it. I always thought I was unintelligent and not academic, but it turned out that I had undiagnosed conditions and went to awful schools. It’s completely changed the way I feel about myself, which in turn has given me confidence to go for better jobs. I’m looking to go into social policy and research when I’ve finished.

I agree, just about any degree is useful. However, sociology is a very dry subject. Some of it is interesting but a lot of it focuses on long dead sociologists and their theories.

An access course tailored towards the career you want to do is more useful.

I have grade a A level in sociology and psychology. Psychology was far more interesting and dynamic. My degree is in public health, which is absolutely relevant to my job.

I have a sociology degree. It was very interesting. Unless you want to work in teaching or research (and for research you probably need more than a BSc) it's not been helpful in getting a job. Other than showing you are degree level qualified.

I'd think about what job you want and work back from there. If the requirement is just a degree not specified a specific one then go for it.

He studied social sciences in his early 30s. He was working in retail and did a lot of his studies whilst working nights. He continued to work in retail after graduating. Got a masters in public administration whilst working part time and joined the civil service maybe 7 years ago? He has been promoted twice since then.

He's very smart but came from a background where university wasn't even considered. I'm glad he went back to education because he's very academic.

When I was at uni one of our course graduate assistants was a guy in his 30’s (old then when mature students weren’t a thing).

he’d left school at 15 and become a plumber. At some point he’d decided to try and get into uni. Did an access course, got on to a chemistry degree, and was writing up his PhD thesis.

honestly to us 18 year old undergrads he was an inspiration.

@doghouseparty my degree is in social sciences so pretty much the same thing. It depends what modules or pathways you're interested in, I focused on criminology, child development, and family. Did mine with the OU in 90s. It absolutely helped me in my career as some jobs only require a 'relevant degree' which is how I got into residential social work, then supporting pregnant teenagers and teenage parents, then back into residential social work management. I absolutely loved doing my degree! Never regretted not doing a different one, I've done post graduate stuff too

I studied it as part of my degree but it wasn't my major. I thought I would love it but have to echo other posters, I hated it. So naval gazey. Really just the opinions of some middle aged men in the mid century. Maybe something like social psychology? At least there's a point to it.

Yes of course, I need to figure out how to find my private messages now 😀

Also, just to mention, I have got this far without a maths GCSE.

I have CC English and science. Can't even remember my maths grade.