Think I need to become a mature student

[Berrybutler]

Please I really need help if you have advice or insight on my predicament.

Does anyone have advice on courses or qualifications to become a child psychologist or similar?

Should probably be posting this on education, but hoping for more traffic here.

Found myself in a very sudden situation whereby husband and I will be separating in the new year and heading for divorce.
I haven’t worked for 10 years since DC born.
I should maybe start working immediately for an income, but would rather start going some way to rebuilding a new career for higher future income. Can’t return to old career and wouldn’t want to anyway.
Should hopefully be able to take a couple of years retraining or qualifying for something new, but will also be responsible for full childcare, so need to be at home at least for the next couple of years until DC is a little older and also won’t have much spare money.
This situation has only just been sprung upon me so I’m having to think fast.
I think it makes sense or would be nice to be able to train or qualify in something I’m actually interested in and I’m thinking child psychology, but I don’t know if being of interest to me is going to be enough to build a career out of a few years down the line. If I’m honest I don’t feel overly committed to it as it’s so sudden and I’m not having much chance to weigh up all my options. I’m hoping that I can become fully committed to it though if I’m interested in it, can see how I will use it in the end, and how beneficial it could hopefully become to myself and my DC (in terms of work and earning)

What’s the best way to obtain relevant qualifications? I can definitely put the hours in during the week, but financially it will be tricky for me to fund. I do have some savings but am going to need a lot of that for setting myself and DC up post-divorce. I could get a loan but I don’t know what financial situation I’m going to be in when I need to start paying it back, ie. I’m training and struggling financially whilst doing so, and then when I do qualify and can hopefully start earning from that, I’m going to need a lot of that wage to pay back the loan. And it could all go tits up and I can’t earn a salary but still need to pay the loan back as well as bills and everything else.
Husband is going to try and give me bare minimum in the divorce so I think every penny I have is going to be stretched and there isn’t going to be much spare for training courses and paying back loans.

Open University looks expensive (£8k-£23k depending on whether certificate of higher education or honours degree) but I don’t know if that’s the best option or whether there’s something else I could do which will still be decent but hopefully not quite so expensive. I feel it would take a long time for me to be able to pay back £23k so doesn’t feel like that avenue would be worthwhile.

I just really need advice on the best course which is also the most cost effective.
I don’t really know where to start and my head is up my arse with all the shit I’ve got going on, and I’m aware I kind of need to act fast.

Thanks if you read all this and have any advice.

Can’t help re what courses etc, but if you are thinking of employability immediately after you’ve completed your degree/courses, then realistically there aren’t many jobs for child psychologists etc, lots of students leave HEI’s with psychology degree and never get the opportunity to work in those fields.

Most of the teams like CAMHs etc are made up qualified mental health nurses or psychiatrists (qualified Drs).

You could look into counselling courses but again, employability after these courses aren’t guaranteed.

Maybe look into Mental Health Nursing, or Teacher training with the aim to work in specialist, there’s even the route of Prison officer within a youth offender setting.

There is no title called Child Psychologist. You would have to train as an Educational Psychologist. The BPS careers website has all the required information on the qualifications required. However, a MSc degree in Children's mental health and wellbeing or similar can also open doors to work in CAMHS, EHCP etc. Though given how competitive these roles are, it would also dependent on how much relevant experience you have.

Agree with PP. If employability is your main goal, mental health nursing is a much more solid choice than child psychology. And don't expect employability from counselling.

Thank you for the replies and advice so far.

My preference would be a working for myself role, but I know how unlikely that is, and that would be for the flexibility around DC. And then I think shall I be doing something completely different that I don’t even need qualifications for, maybe just some relevant experience, but as I said in my OP, my head is up my arse at the moment.

Problem with mental health nurse training is I assume some placements will be in inpatient units and require working nights. What’s your childcare going to be like? Sounds like the ex might not be supportive.

a lot of allied health profession courses have fees paid for and you’d be eligible for a maintenance loan, nhs 6k bursary on top of that plus maybe some universal credit. Look at some of the more 9-5 Allied health professions such as Speech and language, therapeutic radiography. I have no idea what job prospects for those courses are like but to be honest the job market in 3-4 years could be very different so I wouldn’t let that affect you too much. They might be quite competitive and you may need to do something like an Access course first.

What's your educational background or experience, OP? What can you build on?

A lot of the clinical psychology type roles take years and a lot of expensive and very competitive advanced training to get into (NHS funded training programmes). So be sure it's what you want and look into it carefully.

Counselling is less intensive training wise, because it isn't as regulated. You could train as a counsellor and work from home a for yourself.

As others say, there are routes into child and adolescent mental health and well-being, such as MH or children's nursing but the state of nursing recruitment at the moment is not fun. Plus, the training is a mix of theory and practical, so the practice placements will include shifts and if the unit you are placed on runs 24/7/365, you will work antisocial shifts and will have to face the childcare challenges and costs that come with that. Once qualified (3yrs), you are likely to need to do further specialist training into your niche, to end up exactly where you want to be. If you are lucky your employer will pay, if not, you'll have to. Either way, it's more time. It isn't quick but you will be qualified to work in the meantime (if you can find a job ).

How about something like physio or OT if you want to look at more opportunities for self employment? There are still the NHS bursary benefits as discussed by a PP and you could specialise in children but there are more opportunities to work for yourself in physio. Training placements are a bit easier as most physio services are 9-5. There are some on-call shifts to be done but nothing like nursing. Much more family friendly. Obviously you have the challenges of NHS recruitment in the meantime as you'll need a good range of experience before you can practice safely as a self-employed practitioner.

NHS shift work is not that flexible around kids though. So most of the healthcare roles would be out.

What about something more practical? Bookkeeping or accounts? A trade?

What about an apprenticeship? I’d also suggest getting free advice from government careers website.

Thanks, I’m really grateful for the points raised as I am indeed entering into this with desperation rather than a vocation and I really don’t want to waste my time and a load of money, especially if it’s going to come to nothing and not be worthwhile. The idea is supposed to be short term ‘pain’ (struggle) for long term gain, but from what PPs have said, that’s not likely to be the case.
I appreciate the honesty and insight and have been given things to think about.

Education background is I did a BA hons degree in English at uni purely because I enjoyed it but it was so broad and I’ve done nothing with it since I graduated, so it was a waste of time. That was 20+ years ago.

Previous work experience is also irrelevant because the industry has moved on so much since I left that I’d be back at the beginning. It’s also unreliable now and I’m not at all interested in getting back into it anyway.

I’ve looked very briefly into virtual assistant work and that might be something to think about. A job with income right now would definitely be useful, but I just wanted to be able to get into something now that would increase my earning potential in the future so that I’m not on the bones of my arse for forever. I feel like if I don’t lay the foundations now then I’ll never be in a position in the future to be able to.

My life has taken a turn I never expected and I’ve found myself in a position I could never have foreseen. There’s so much going on and my life feels like such a mess. I don’t want it to be that way forever obviously and I want to be able to make some decisions now that will hopefully benefit me in the future. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do or even can do for the best. My brain is just fried.

Thank you for the suggestion, an apprenticeship is something I’d not thought of, so I will look into that.

From what I remember, Psychology is a popular subject on the Mature Study and Retraining board - so perhaps it might be an idea to browse the threads there. Regardless of ‘traffic’ it was actually set up to assist people thinking of retraining.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/mature_students

If you already have a degree, you are probably not eligible for the level 4 and 5 apprenticeship pathway. It's set up for people with no qualifications beyond school leaver or A-level. There used to be level 7 (MSc) apprenticeships but they've gone now, it's a real shame.

You also need to think about the funding.

You aren't entitled to further standard undergraduate student funding from the government (a normal student loan) because you've already got an BA. However, there are are a couple of exception degrees which allow a second bout of UG funding. They are mostly healthcare - nursing, radiography, physio, OT, etc. I think teaching might be too but I'm not sure. Otherwise you are looking at self funding for non-exception courses.

https://www.gov.uk/student-finance/who-qualifies

I'm sorry you find yourself in this situation 🩷

Physio and OT are still in demand jobs and Physio especially has opportunity for self employed work..
But do take training to get there but very rewarding if not necessarily mega well paid.. lots of OTs work in social care . definitely 9-5 with good working conditions in the main which maybe important over time

With your head fried I would suggest don't make big expensive decisions... Look for some work if you haven't any just to get back in the way of it ..
Local authorities often have admin jobs or a wide range that can be useful to get back into the work force..
Then think about what to do/where to go .. DC will grow and need less hands on and you will need to think about your pension and future.....

Plan for a few years ahead practicalities not just here and now

Would you consider teaching? There are schemes where you can train in school and it would only take a year. When I trained, one woman had only settled on teaching because she was widowed with two small children.

I’d start small and cheap to build up your confidence. UDEMY does helpful courses on a huge range of subjects. So, for example, all the office packages, project management, supply chain management - all sorts of things.

Cheap enough for you to explore and see what you might like. Build up your skills and confidence. You could then start earning pretty quickly in a remote PA or support type role? And then progress and build.

I too did an English and American literature degree. Really really wish I hadn’t. Whilst I do think a university education is valuable, for me I think I should have done something more vocational.

So

Look at big organisations for stuff like degree apprenticeships, civil service, network rail, etc. starting salary often around 30k. I don’t believe they are allowed to have any age requirements.

The good thing is you could choose to do a postgraduate degree, with a Government Postgraduate Loan that you wouldn’t start paying back until you had a reasonable income.

https://www.gov.uk/funding-for-postgraduate-study

You’re not going to be able to become a child psychotherapist running their own practice from
doing a cheap online qualification with 0 clinical experience / supervised work outside of the home.

Most healthcare roles require in person training and supervision on placement.

Not entirely true. I did an apprenticeship with an MA degree and most of my colleagues had degrees.