to resign myself to the fact that there's no way I can do this degree due to lack of childcare?

[MrsHuxtableReturns]

I'm desperately trying to think of ways to make this work.

I want to do a nursing degree in a couple of years time but I might well be a single parent by then.

DC will be 3 and 5 and in nursery (9-12) and school (9-3) respectively.

The degree has pretty random blocks of uni (mostly 9-3) and placements (whatever shifts the mentor works I believe is the norm).

So I'd need somebody to take over the school run in the mornings on the days that I can't do it and somebody to pick up from school and nursery. During uni blocks I should be home by 4 the latest. The placements are a big unknown. And of course I won't need the same childcare hours on the same days each week (well, during uni blocks I will but not during placements) which makes it all a rather shitty job for a childminder.

Plus I won't have the financial resources to pay for something like a nanny as I'll just have the NHS bursary and ctc.

I'm getting really down about it but there's no way forward with this, is there?

[MrsHuxtableReturns]

I'm German, husband British as are the children. Located in Scotland. No visa required. Funding and benefits apply to me as they would to a British person.

Oh, another characteristic that might be useful for finding a fitting career is that people describe me as unflappable and good in a crisis.

[Mumoftwoyoungkids]

Accountant?
Computer programmer?
Optometrist?
Radiographer?
Research scientist?
Lab technician?

[Lweji]

To be honest, and I realise you need a plan(!), it's for in a couple of years.

Figure this out then, depending on how things are. You may not even want to do nursing then. Things can change a lot in two years and it seems too much angst to go through right now.

[Idefix]

Op I would go for the nursing!
I completed my nursing degree 4yrs ago and managed this with a fantastic Au Pair - I would highly recommend this option. Ap made it possible for me to do the different shifts, despite being in an area with 3 unis and 4 large hospitals I couldn't find a cm who would be flexible about the differing hours I needed and the cost was unaffordable.
I found that my mentors were fairly flexible regarding which shifts you did - you only have to work so many with mentor. When I finshed my degree I had done the minimum number of night shifts required. I had also completed three placements of 10 weeks with district nurses and practice nurses, making it much easier for my family. I only worked a few long shifts as my uni and trust disproved of them - only done in ICU, ccu and a&e.
Ap stayed with us for three and half years and gave my children and myself an amazing opportunity to learn another culture and become friends with an amazingly kind and creative individual.
I would recommend waiting for youngest child to be in ft ed, perhaps getting a job pt as a hca/pca to ensure nursing is what you really want to do. My course at a huge drop out rate and for any it was because they found nursing wasn't what they thought it would be.
Obviously you are no stranger to completing course work and managing childcare, running the house.
Strangely I also have an unfinished teaching degree under my belt - wasn't for me either.
My top tip for the ap is to really do your research and use an agency - where you talk to real people - can recommend one if you pm me. Our house often became a halfway house for ap whose families expected far too much from them and took advantage of them.
Sorry for such a long post I hope it helps...

[reynoldsnumber]

Have you considered training as an accountant? This is a job with good work life balance and you can often work and study at the same time. A lot of the qualities you have would be well suited to audit or working in practice.

[lalalonglegs]

Or a bookkeeper? You could take the relevant courses and get work in less than a year and work your wsy up to accountancy as your children get a bit bigger.

[poocatcherchampion]

Local government. Sorted.

[IamtheDevilsAvocado]

Also there are many different types of accountants, I'm sure there are people in here who could talk about this more fully than me. A couple of people I know trained 'on the job.' ... It's more regular hours, still loads of.work tho!

Another thought - what about legal executive (ILEX). I think that qualification can be done while working?

Have you looked at any of the online in-depth career questionnaires? It may throw up some ideas you hadn't thought of, or confirm what you do want to do!