To go back to uni?

[BrieAndChilli]

Ds2 starts school in September. I currently work part time as a waitress earning £100 a week.
The general idea for a while has been for me to go back to uni and do my accountancy degree (I did one year a long time ago)
DH made a comment to someone the other day in response to them asking about me going back to uni and he said 'I was hoping for her to go back to work and bring in some more money'
I'm now doubting what the best thing to do is, especially as looking into it DH earns too much for us to get the childcare grant

Figures are
Student loan etx would give me £500 a month but after school club for 3 kids would be £500 a month (£25 a day).
Petrol to and fro to uni (30 miles each way) would be about an extra £100 a month then what I spend now
Then there's books etc
I currently work 3-4 evenings a week about £100 which I wouldn't be able to do really as would need time to study, spend time with kids/DH, house work, cooking etc.
or I could get a minimum wage admin job which would bring in about £1000 a month but after childcare would leave about £500 a month but kids wouldn't be able to do swimming , chess club etx that they currently do, not have friends for tea etc plus school holiday care for 3 would probably wipe out the rest of my wages.
I just don't know what to do for the best. All I do know is I need a change, me working several nights til the early hours (te being knackered all the next day) is killing us, we can never do anything on the weekend as I have to be back for work, can't go and visit our families etc plus I don't get holiday pay, stress if I want a night off etc etc. it's a badly run restaurant and I'm too old to be enthusiastic with customers etc etc!!

I'm a mature student with a 9mo. It's tough and we're perennially skint but it's well worth it. If it's something you really want to do then go for it. You're clearly not happy doing what you're doing now, and your DH should value your happiness and fulfilment above your income. Do you have any family nearby who could help with childcare?

You need to be clear- do you want to be an accountant or do you want to go to Uni?

You can go to uni and then be an accountant but you can be an accountant without going to Uni.

However if what you really want is to be a student then you don't need to do accountancy to be an accountant but you do need good a levels and probably Russell Group if you want a large company training contract.

If you don want to work for an accountancy firm but want to be an 'accountant' within a company then Uni probably isn't the best way.

Does the household income enable you to do an apprenticeship? Or go to uni? Is your husbands wish for you to earn more money due to him wanting more luxuries or necessities?

How is your surplus income divided now?

I don't think you are unreasonable. Dh is a sahd if he wanted to go back to uni to do accountancy we would find a way. I'd encourage it as it is a very worthwhile career. I would ask him to look into apprenticeships too as you do need to do the job to become fully qualified.

about 10 years or so years ago our neighbour did an accountancy course at home, whilst the kids were at school. like you she dropped out of uni. this enabled her to qualify and get an accountancy job. have you looked at the open university website or the accountancy websites? Have you tried approaching them? I imagine the open university could tell you about student loans as well

Thanks for all the advice, lots to think about and look into.
Bit at the poster who said I've been selfish for not working these past few years and had DH support me - I actually have been bringing in more money working part time evenings then I would have done working full time and paying for childcare. When ds2 was born all 3 children were at home and it would have cost me over 2 grand a month for childcare. DH also wanted me to be home with the children and it was a joint decision that it was best for the children and the family for me to be home with them whilst preschool. Now ds2 is nearing school age it's always been the plan to reassess the situation and make a change.
I'm thinking open uni degree with working part time 3 days a week would probably be the best compromise all round, I get to tick off my regret of not havin a degree, gain a qualification which opens a lot more career doors as lots of jobs require graduates, bringing in some money whilst still having time to study/housework/ kids activities etc .

brie, you do not need to explain yourself to anyone. I'm sure a lot of people would call me selfish for what I'm doing, but those people would get my sweetest smile and a two-fingered salute.

check what excemptions the degree gives you towards the accountancy exams. My business studies degree meant you didn't have to do a load of post degree exams.

sounds a good plan.

And childcare will cost me £500 a month

No, it will cost the family £500 a month. Another alternative/companion to the OU route is to get in to a small or medium-sized accountancy firm and work your way up, training on the job. They will pay some or all of your fees in return for a smaller starting salary. But that won't be a pay cut from your waiting on wages.

can you not look into work based training positions for accountancy? a lot if firms round here do day release for AAT etc

You can do a Certificate in Accounting from the OU which gives exemptions from a lot of AAT subjects, I did it to see what I thought of accounting post baby when I was contemplating a career change. Two 30 credit modules, financial accounting and management accounting.

www.open.ac.uk/courses/qualifications/s25

I hadn't studied accounting before (have a maths related degree).

You can also do AAT and many other accounting qualifications via distance learning.

Depends on what you want really, if you want a degree you could see what options the OU have, start with the certificate and the keep going (collecting different levels of recognition along the way which are useful from a career point of view).

If you want to be an accountant then AAT could be the more affordable route as you can study (and pay for) a module at a time. Bear in mind though that L4 AAT is theoretically the same level as 1st year uni so you may or may not find it challenging enough.

I think that you could probably get a job with either one of the AAT levels (not necessarily the L4 Diploma) or the OU certificate and go from there. I am not sure that many employers would know what the OU cert is but you could explain that easily enough and point out the exemptions.

Best of luck Brie, it is hard starting again post children but definitely can be done and the good thing about studying is that you can fit it round school.

dh has 5 qualified staff, only 2 have degrees and none in accountancy. This is in a local manufacturing industry, they've all got the job first and then done exams with employer support, not all as school leavers, some came from other jobs as older people.

I understand the quest for a degree. My dd just started uni and its brought up regrets for me that I never tried to even apply to uni. I have to remind myself I've got a professional qualification after 6 years of study, but in my own mind sometimes I don't feel as "clever " as someone with a degree. ( I may also look at open university but it would be leisure and self-satisfaction, not career)

Full disclosure, I work for AAT. If you get one of their accountancy qualifications you definitely won’t need a degree. Its flexible, so you’ll be able to learn from home in the evenings or from a regional training provider. You could also get your qualification quicker than if you did a degree, as it’s possible to study from AAT Introductory to AAT Advanced in a couple of years.