Really want to start my first degree but have 3 kids under 8

[New2degrees]

I really need some advice, I have a strong urge to start my first degree in Social Work
I already work part time at a care home and have 3 kids and DH works full time, so I know its not going to be easy.
But ever since I finished college I've wanted to start a degree and never got round to it.
I think ive finally decided on Social Work as my degree/career of choice and wondered if anyone out there has studied for one,
I've heard its certainly not going to be easy but is it worth it, just need some advice and confidence boosts and best way to do it, feel pretty confused

You might want to ask mnhq to move this to higher education as this board tends to be more for university staff so may not get as much traffic.

I don’t know anything about social work but I teach on a degree course with a similar workload I’d say. Placements as well. I have plenty of mature students with kids so it’s possible.

University open days will kick off again soon (possibly virtually) so have a look at your local one. They will have sessions on finance as well so you can see what you’re entitled to.

It might be worth having a look to see if any unis offer the course part time so you could continue working part time or just have extra time to study with your kids in nursery/school.

Unis are pretty good at helping mature students and being flexible so I echo the above advice to get in touch with someone from the social work department at the uni .

How much help do you have? I did a non placement, academic degree which I started with 3 under 6 and I was very fortunate to have super practically supportive parents and DH who whilst not massively supportive was at least around to look after DC if I needed to spend the day in a library etc. I also worked full time and did the degree over 4 instead of 3 years.

I think supportive network/access to and/or ability to pay for childcare if necessary is crucial given you will have placements etc.

I have never looked back though and returning to uni gave me my life back and I have never regretted one day of it and am now half way through my PhD. In some ways this is harder with my now teens than the BA with little ones.