Is there any point in doing an HNC?

[Lookingforastronauts]

AIBU to wonder this?

I completed an HND 15 years ago in a completely unrelated area.

An advisor on the phone talked me into applying for an HNC this year, (social science) however I've just been reading on the SAAS site, the advisor was mistaken and I won't have tuition paid for this, I'll have to pay 1.3k myself. Or rather my partner will because I'm unemployed atm. I feel really deflated and dissapointed as I was really looking forward to it. But now I'm wondering if there's any actual point. Would it increase my employability? I feel it would have to to justify asking DH to help me pay for it. He would, but I wonder if I would be wiser to just get a job instead.

Anyone have any experience or opinions?

It shows that you have brushed up on your research, and analytical skills, setting time side for studying etc but so would some of the “free” courses.
If you could wave a wand and had this qualification under your belt now, what would be looking to do?

Are there 'free' courses? Would I find these at local college?

I honestly don't know what I would be looking to do, I was initially interested in counselling/addiction counselling as it was a more affordable night course, but rarely runs due to lack of interest (I'm quite rural) and the advisor talked me into this. In a perfect world I would love to do a degree. But I have many friends with degrees and we all have been doing the same kind of hospitality jobs, I worry it would be a huge waste of time and leave me with little improved opportunity.

The open university has a few free courses, which you could complete from home.

To be honest it might be better off volunteering as experience is often much better than a piece of paper.
I work in Housing and we get quite a lot of interest when jobs are advertised, it’s fairly well paid job in some areas for what amounts to customer service and form filling (around 26k for a new starter) and you only need basic qualifications.

MWe look more for experience of actually working with and understanding homeless issues. So volunteering with local charities like the Eden project, serving meals etc.

I have a degree and I’ve never really used it, not to open doors career wise anyway.

I have two friends age 40 who have gone started social work degrees to be social workers. I have another friend who completed a psychology degree to progress to a management job in care work. It really depends what career you want, as to whether taking a degree in that discipline will ultimately be worth it.

Another friend has a counselling degree and works in trading standards, because most counsellors have a degree in psychology or psychotherapy, she found it too difficult a field to enter.