Aibu to think of doing a degree as a single parent?

[Ilikelotsofthinngs]

I'm 32, son is 8. Currently work part time in a job I like but is going nowhere. It doesn't give me enough hours and I'm wasting two days a week my son is at school not working or doing very much of anything.
To be honest I'm sick of the grind and being poor and don't want to be poor forever and feel like a failure that I've wasted my potential in life.
I got good gcse grades without much effort and three a levels.
I'm seriously considering starting a full time law degree. Not with any particular career in mind, still don't know what I want to be when I grow up but feel it would give me a purpose in life and better prospects for the future.
The main thing stopping me is money. I've been looking online and I could get a maintenance loan and help with childcare but not sure what else or how loans affect other benefits. I would plan to keep my current job with maybe one less day a week depending on which days I would need to attend lectures.
Any advice about student finances or personal experience of being a single parent student would be greatly appreciated.

I'm 43, 3 kids (youngest is 9) and have just finished my first year of a psychology degree... I wish I'd done it years ago so I would absolutely go for it!

I wasn't a single parent student but I was 24 with 2 kids and single with no contact with their dad, and I started a business and built it from the ground up alone.

It was hard, exhausting and stressful. I had both the kids in nursery 3 days a week and with family 2 days a week. I worked when they were out the house, then did dinner, playtime, bath, bed... And then I'd work while they slept. Learned to live on around 5 hours sleep.

It was very hard, and very expensive but absolutely worth it. I earn around £400,000 before tax and I'm only 29. If never have that if I hadn't worked myself to exhaustion and taken the risks.

Do you have any support to save you even a day if childcare costs? It will be hard, and you will need to have discipline to make sure you study when you just want to relax and do nothing, but you can do it.

You'll get income support or tax credits (I don't know how it works now) and some universities have a creche with discounted rates for students. You could even do a distance learning course, so you don't need to go into the uni and it would work around your schedule.

Moderation are you a single parent?
Well done for going for it. I don't want to keep regretting not doing it but I'm worried about the money.
Roc that sounds fantastic do you mind saying what the business is? I can only dream of earning that kind of money.
I want to go to a brick uni because I don't think I would have the motivation to complete 6years of study from home if I did part time distance learning, I'm confident I could do the work but I wasn't the most committed student at school.

I'm a jeweller; started in my workshop in a spare room selling on my own website, then got into 1 shop, then 10, then hundreds. So as well as the metalwork and design work, I had to do the advertising, the promoting myself to boutiques and all the rest of it. Was a 24 hour job trying to become established.

Whatever you choose to do, you can be hugely successful - it just takes a hell of a lot of work.

If being in a university environment would get you through the work more effectively, then that's absolutely the right thing to do. Make sure to check each uni near you to see if they offer any extra support to single parents. Make a plan, get it all in place and then work your butt off! You can so do it

I'm about to return to f/t Ed in August at college with the view of getting into uni and it is terrifying in a way, I'm single parent with no formal qualifications so working from the ground really.

I'm going to do an Access course which is pretty tough I think.

Currently self employed and have been for about 3yrs and I am going to have to pack it in to do the Course, I did look into going into a more flexible self Employed venture but even that didn't seem viable with the course schedule and being a present parent.

Again terrifying, I have no clue what the current system of universal credits etc will be like and I can't apply for student loan at this stage.

I do need change and feel I have never reached for my potential. I don't want to be stuck in a poverty trap forever and now is the time to do it.

Sorry I babbled and not much help just wanted to give you my hand. If you are in Scotland Saas is probably the best place to look.

No I'm not a single parent but in terms of finance I should think that would be to your advantage (obviously juggling childcare will be hard but you know this already) You will get a loan for your tuition fees which everyone gets. I get a maintenance grant of about £8500 per year (split into 3 payments) I also work 2 days a week. My uni has bursaries for people with kids (I've received £1500 this year which doesn't need to be paid back) I had my last exam this Tuesday (29th May) and have now finished until mid September so can work extra in these 4 months. I'd get in touch with the uni you want to attend as they are really helpful with mature students, people returning to education (especially with kids) are much more focussed on working hard etc. Out of 40 on my course at least 15 are older (between 25 and 50 years old) and a mixture of parents, single parents etc. You won't regret going for it!

Wow Roc that's amazing you must be very talented as well as hardworking you should be proud of yourself.
I would definitely need to be in the library to get the work done, Im a hard worker but a procrastinator when I'm alone.
Thank you for the encouragement I will be making some calls and find out what I need to do, I might need to do an access course which I would be looking to start in September then degree in 2019.

Do it! I did my degree with 4 kids, working full time ( degree part time) and I managed. I think with the right motivation you can do what you want!

If you're actually thinking of going into law, you could thinking of being a legal executive. You have to be employed in a relevant job and then you can do the course by correspondence. So you're earning and studying at the same time. Just a thought...

Thanks so I should be able to get 10kof grants and loans plus childcare funding. Plus if I keep my job it does seem like I won't be getting much less than I do now. I will make some calls.
Did you have to do an access course before you started your degree?
I'm not worried about juggling childcare providing lectures are during normal office hours, my son is at school and already goes to a fantastic Childminder.

Definitely go to uni. Don't do law unless you really really want to, it's very dry and many friends have struggled with it. You need a bit of passion for it. Go see a career counsellor at the uni to help clarify a good direction and study path - they are there to help you, they want you to enrol, you don't have to be a student.
There are a lot of options for career advancement, business, communications, languages, sciences....
DO IT you will never regret it!

I didn't do an access course, I didn't even think of that I just applied! I got C in gcse maths and English and 3 a levels so just went for it. A few people on my course did an access course last year to get their maths and English etc but you might not need it. Most unis have a mature student liaison who could tell you if the quals you have are enough. I was really really nervous about doing this but I'm so glad I did. By the time I graduate my youngest will be at secondary school (the 2 older ones are 15 and 19) and a secondary school child is so much easier in terms of longer hours at school, more independent etc...

You don't need to worry about money. I started Uni as a single mum of three and found I had more than enough money (compared to being on income support).

It might be different now as I know Student Finance has undergone some changes, but I the year I started (2016). I got full maintenance loan, plus what they called a special support grant instead of maintenance grant. The difference was it's not means tested which also allowed me to continue getting Housing Benefits. I got Childcare grant and parent learning grant too. Plus child tax credits. My university also gave me £3000.

I also get all the holidays off and some!

My first semester (autumn) I was in 4 days a week, 3 of them I was finished early enough to pick my son up from school and this semester I was in 3 days a week. I think law is a bit more 9-5 though so check.. Is law definitely what you want to study?

I did a Foundation year. So rather than the course being 4 years (it's an integrated Masters) I'm doing 5 years. I had the qualifications but they weren't happy as I hadn't studied in ten years.

I’m sure you’d be able to access loans the same way as other students . Haven’t they stopped maintenance grants for mature students with kids ?
It would be a lot of debt but if you choose something with a guaranteed job at the end then go for it . I wouldn’t go to uni just for the sake of it though . I think you need to sit down and think about what you want to do .

My uni has a separate fund for students with kids that you just have to apply for and it's not something that has to be paid back

I am a law student with children. Law is a good degree to do as a parent. It is very easy to pass (although quite difficult to do well in but if you aren't intending to go into law/academia that doesn't matter as much). But in your place I would think a bit harder about what you want to do with your degree first and then choose a degree. Law is a great degree for someone who is bright and straight out of highschool but doesn't know what they want to do with their life but at your age you may be better off choosing something that is more closely related to what you will be doing.

Thats good to know about not needing to do access, I've got 9 gcse mostly b grades and 3 c grade a levels. Obviously they are old now.
Law I'm not really 100% on. Maybe I will do something else, if I'd gone straight from school I most likely would have done history or English.
Thank you all, I have a lot of thinking and research to do.

I'm a single parent and have just completed my final year at university. It was a ling, hard slog at times but it is doable! You have to be strict with your time, and make every minute count with studying and time with the kids.
You can get quite a lot of financial support as a single parent, it's not easy to manage because you get 3 payments a year but as long as you manage it correctly, are strict with yourself,it's enough to live on.
Good luck if you go for it, it will be worth it in the end

maybe go and look round the uni you want to go to? and get in touch with them, every single person I've dealt with has been really helpful... good luck! Xx

As PurpleTigerLove said I think they have scrapped maintenance grants for everyone now. They give a larger amount of loan instead. They still do parents learning allowance though, plus whatever the Uni gives.

I would be very surprised if you didn't have to do either an access course or a foundation year.

Yes it probably depends on the individual uni as to what they will/won't accept

I did one through the baby and toddler stages, because I didn’t want to be bored on maternity leave or stuck being poor forever. I was a single parent with no childcare, so I had to do it part time. Didn’t need to do an access course. Enjoyed it. Good luck.

Yes, and it depends what subjects your A Level are. I needed Chemistry, which I didn't have.