To ask the best degree to do in order to earn the most

[Vitalic]

I've never been money-oriented and did a degree in my twenties in a very specific subject that interested me but which is never going to earn me much money. I only got a 2:2 plus it's such a specific subject I'd be surprised if it would get me into an MSc in anything useful.

I currently work to support myself and young dd in a field unrelated to my degree and in which there is no potential for progression or promotion.

I'm now completely sick of being poor and want to retrain in something that will earn enough for us to be comfortably off.

I have enough saved plus can get a career development loan to fund another undergraduate degree.

Please could anyone advise me what I should be looking at in order to get the most well-paid job possible following this? I have a BSc, am pretty good at maths, have good communication skills and lots of experience in various fields.

I was considering med school and scored well in practice GAMSAT exams - these aim to assess your capability in a variety of areas so I guess that's a good indication that I could potentially do well in various types of studies/jobs.

Would be very grateful for any advice

Impossible to say
lots of currently well paid jobs will soon be eaten by algorithms

Definitely don't do another degree. I'm career changing and am retraining as an accountant/ tax adviser at a big4 - you earn a low salary for 3 years, but don't end up in debt. Look at accountancy jobs in your area which will allow you to train on the job

What do you actually mean by "pretty good" at maths?
I've heard people say that when they mean anything from got their C at GCSE through to DPhil in mathematics (wave formation).
If you haven't got an A-level in it, then perhaps that would be a place to start-although if you haven't done it for some time you may be very rusty.

I really wouldn't go for medicine. I've family members who are doctors and although my parents think the world spends their time trying to make life easy for doctors because they're so important (apparently laughing at her when she said that she was sure BT would connect dbro's phone line much quicker because he was a doctor and they'd know it was important for him to have a phone, was me not realising how the rest of the world views them!), I would doubt you'll find it lucrative, and it's certainly stressful.
You'd need some A-levels or similar at A/A* in chemistry and at least a couple more in science/maths.
You then would be doing 5-6 years of being a student. So that's a lot of child care for your dd when you're not getting an income.
Then a couple years of junior doctor with shift work and weekends etc at not a brilliant pay.
Then you can specialise-as a registrar you're still not on brilliant pay though.

I think rather than everyone throwing random suggestions at you, it might be better if you give your A-levels and what kind of thing you're interested in.
Thing is a lot of jobs can look really well paid, but that's the top end. You've got to put the time and effort in to get there-or get there with a bit of luck. Probably both.

We had a family we were friendly with growing up that the dad ended up being head of a large corporation on 3 figure salary. Him and my df had been similar levels at one point. I can remember chatting with my df about it and he said that he had been willing to put the time and effort in (lots of abroad trips etc) which had enabled him to progress further, but also he'd had a bit of luck in that his boss retired early and very suddenly at one point, which allowed him to do a jump of promotion he wouldn't have expected for another 5-10 years.
He was a lovely unassuming man. My main memory of him is singing "I'm a little teapot" complete with actions at one of his dc's birthday parties. But he wasn't around much when his children were little.

Definitely don't do law. My friend has a 1st from a good uni in law, and also a MA to specialise a bit more. She earns 17k a year after 5 years of graduating and doesn't look like she'll be getting a pay rise for at least another year, and it'll only be to about 21k max

I would go for accountancy in your shoes. I know a fair bit about both accountancy and actuarial worlds I wouldn't take on the actuarial exams with a child, it being so long since study and the big uncertainty of success. Accountancy is far more flexible and transferable. Just be careful choosing where you train. The big 4 certainly make thier trainees work long hours.

It depends what you specialise in... audit is long hours but other areas aren't as bad. In my busy season I might work until 7/8pm, but outside those few months, it's normal hours.

Watching with interest as in exactly same situation.

If you're in the U.K. Don't bother with medicine. Have you considered getting a broker's license? All you need is an undergrad which you have in order to sit the exams.

I know an FY2 who's nearly 50. She originally worked in IT. She always wanted to do medicine and tried to apply in her early 30s but back then most unis had a cut off age of 30. Age discrimination laws mean they can't do that now so she applied in her 40s and got in.

I'm a doctor and earn £45k for 48 hour weeks. I'm on call from home overnight about once a week, not practical if you had a young child and couldn't leave them. I'll be taking time out within the next few years for research with a big salary cut.

The highest earners in my family are in engineering and accounting but none on big bucks.

Software development and look to work in financial services. Loads of demand, lots of not very good people so they're desperate for people who are actually good and passionate and a £60k base plus bonus plus full benefits is easily achievable at a not particularly senior level.

Accountancy then look to specialise say business advisory or tax advisory. Yes IT and AI are doing the number crunching more and more but clients still want the human touch and the advisory work is the value added on top of the numbers.

You need to train in a firm that focuses on client relationships and does not mainly compete on fees. It is the firms that have fee sensitive clients that have more to fear from changes in the profession in my opinion.

I'm an accountant in practice, trained in a local firm, now run my own firm, 5 part time staff, we are all on flexible working, great work life balance, and a good income, 6 figures.

Do ACCA, you should eat it up.

You have a degree so I would suggest to look at post grad qualifications in something like accountancy as mentioned above. Don't do law. It would be 3 years plus a year law school plus trying to find a training contract which are highly competitive and low paid unless you are in a London magic circle firm.

Oops obvs the part timers aren't on 6 figures - it's not that good - but they are on above market rate salaries nonetheless.

I am laughing at the nutters who think a 7 year medical degree and night shifts is worth it for what doctors get paid. A newly promoted consultant gets about 65k, after about 12 years of work. In the big city firms, newly qualified lawyers (age 24) earn more than that. Doctors are grossly underpaid compared not to lawyers, accountants and investment bankers/traders.

I'm laughing at the claim that doctors are grossly underpaid compared to lawyers. You really, really aren't.

Most lawyers these days won't ever see a 65k salary any time in their career, let alone law graduates. Don't judge law salaries by people you know who work in the city! They're a small minority of the profession. Those 22k training salaries you mentioned? Unless you want and can get something corporate, or at least large regional commercial, it's going to take you a while before being able to command that. That is not what high street training salaries look like, I can assure you. Nor legal aid. Granted, I work in a poorly paid area of law and a lot of my work has been for charities, but the most I've ever earned in nearly a decade at the coalface has been less than half of the 65k consultant salary you mention.

There are a couple of universities which do courses in actuarial science where you can qualify in three years (or four with a foundation year). Heriot Watt, I think, or Kent.

I wouldn't bother doing another undergrad degree. You would likely find it very basic after years of life experience and it won't make you more employable (apart from in specific fields eg. medicine) because so many people have degrees now.

Medicine is a bad idea - you would struggle with the long hours and night shifts/weekends as a single parent, and the pay won't reach 60k for years.

I am not sure of any degree where you automatically earn 60k, I guess everyone would be doing them if there was one. People that do earn that straight from graduation probably work extreme hours in the city.

The best paid people tend to have their own businesses. Is there any extra training you could do on top of your existing skills/degree/interests that would enable that? Alternatively think about doing a masters - only one year, better chances of making useful connections through it, and they are easy to get onto. With a biology related BSc you could do more or less any biology related MSc. Universities (even good ones) just want people who are going to pass - they don't care if you are going to be a top class student as long as you pay your fees. I have done 2 MSc's at good universities and there were all kinds of people there - some had 2.2's in unrelated fields.

Software engineering definitely. Loads of jobs about plus your pay moves up very quickly. Also if you ever need to stay home for whatever reason, you can work from home via remote login

Forgot to mention, you can do a conversion masters or an HND. You don't need to do another degree

I'm going to be another vote for Dentistry.
5 years undergraduate though, if you can afford to support yourself though that, and if you can get through the application process.
Very like medicine in content BUT predictable hours; decent salary straight out of training (£30k first year then ++); options to specialise; part time working easily doable; employed and self employed working available; negligible unemployment rate.
www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/dentist

As you are already a graduate and a mature student I would definitely approach accountants firms about learning whilst on the job to become an accountant . In the opinion of a solicitor the accountants rule the world (they are the ones dishing out the "good work" to solicitors).

I a a solicitor lucky enough to have worked at bigger regionals which do pay well and my DH is a partner in a top regional earning decent money (and paying proper salaries to trainees and nq lawyers). Law is however incredibly competitive nowadays and if you are in a bog standard High Street type practice even Partners may only earn about £70k

I snorted my coffee at psychopaths go into investment banking. It is what my 15 year old aspires to be!

Thinking about people I know who earn very well (over 100k) and we have an actuary, a CEO of a charitable organisation, finance directors, an entrepreneur who set up her own niche business and got a dragons den style investment, an accountant with own practice, a medicolegal adviser and some sales managers and directors.

I'm an under achiever in comparison

I think if you can do it, sales is the easiest way to earn money, it has been in my experience. Often bonuses boost your earnings significantly.

IT Systems Analyst and Systems Architect. If your good you can name your price and work mostly from home.

It just struck me that of the 3 people I know that earn over £100K, two of them don't have degrees

Data science/Machine learning etc.