Honestly … is it silly to retrain at fifty three?

[fiftythreeorfour]

It probably is.

At fifty three, I’ll have an eleven year old and a nearly fourteen year old. They’ll both be at senior school.

So by the time I qualify I’d be fifty five …

And I’d be starting at the bottom.

Daft.

@hayal this is really interesting - is the apprenticeship paid? I have a relevant degree and a wealth of experience so this could be just the thing for me! Also thinking of re-training at 55

Definitely go for it! Listen to the advice above and consider very carefully how you will support yourself with the emotional load of the work and how to stay healthy and then just do it! Good luck!

Assuming you are retiring at 66, in the next 12.5 years you’ve got approx 3250 working days. What job would you prefer to spend them in?

This so encouraging. I retrained at 46 into a job I love but very little career progression. I am now thinking of going again at 52 as current job is very physically demanding and I will not be able to do it for that much longer! I probably won't retire until 67 so I have about 15 years ahead of me to do something a bit more sedentary. I do need ideas though!

Will it work financially, student loans I presume? And how do you feel about the academic aspect?
I think it's a great time to do it and I found that doing my exams while my dc were approaching theirs seemed to have a good role modeling effect!

I don’t think I’d need a loan. I can pay for the tuition fees. It’s a two year course so I’d be fifty five on qualifying.

My sister retrained as a SW and qualified when she was 54 and loves her job. It's hard but she finds a lot of it fulfilling. Go for it @fiftythreeorfour!

Sounds amazing OP. Follow your dreams!

I changed careers at 51 .. no regrets at all .

Your restraining into a career it’s incredibly likely that you would always have work and also be able to find work without too much difficulty compared to other industries.

If anything, it seems like a great idea. As pp said you have life experience and probably more realistic understanding of some situations others might not.

The only word of caution is consider how it will affect your pension depending on what you do now

Oh do it! We need more social workers and coming into in later in life would add an extra dimension :)

Totally agree !

It's not daft at all - imagine spending the rest of your working career doing something that you really love?

Picture yourself in 10 years time - what do you think your answer would be then?

You've just missed the cut off for this years frontline programme but look at that for next year.
That's to fast track train as a children's social worker and you study alongside working supervised cases (kind of like teach first which I think more people have heard of). You need a degree but can be anything.
I think I would apply for this if my corporate career ended. There are roles that it doesn't make sense to retrain for at 53 but I think this one does. One of the factors I've somewhat bleakly reflected is that many social workers face burn out after a decade so you've not necessarily got reduced longevity over a much younger person anyway.

@Keithiscryingagain
The LA apprenticeships are fully paid at my LA. You earn around 27k per year for 3 years, and the LA pays your uni fees. When you qualify, you are provided with an ASA post, and you automatically move up to the next career grade salary band.
A good friend of mine qualifies this year via this route with a neighbouring LA who offers the same scheme. They usually take on around 4 apprentices each year.

I recently have, never to old to start afresh or reinvent yourself.

Go for it!

51 over here and also thinking of retraining as a social worker 😊 surely it’s one of those jobs that the more life experience and skills you have the better.

@fiftythreeorfour wondering if you may qualify for this bursary?

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/social-work-bursary-swb

eta; it's non-means tested

There are many social workers who start their careers older. I have been told that it’s an ideal career for older people because they have the life experience that will help in this role. You can also stay at a council almost indefinitely these days! Go for it OP.

DO IT.

You bring wisdom, maturity, life experience, understanding, compassion, clarity of thinking, wider points of view etc etc that a twenty something can't hope to achieve yet.

You have many working years ahead and many more living years.

I took redundancy just before 50 and have been doing two utterly different things since then with great joy and interest.

Do it, then look back on what you DID with pride, not on what might have been with regret.

You're never too old!I just started a new job abroad at 40. In a new career.

My friend has just become a nurse at 51

Go for it! Good on you for wanting to retrain!

Lots of working years left so totally worth it.

Don’t do it!!!!
the pay is terrible and the working conditions are really poor.
zero counselling, everyone is walking about traumatised .

just saying.

I went back to school at 56–retrained as a clinical social worker (LICSW) in the US. Two years of coursework, two years under supervision in an agency, now in private practice. I love it!

I just looked up the pay.

The pay isn't terrible.