To want to study again even though I messed up my degree

[Welikebeingcosy]

To put a long story short I picked the wrong degree and university and really messed up with using up all my funding by trying to do something my heart just wasn't in.

Now I'm older and know what I actually do want to study but obviously as a single mum I don't have the money just lying around to start a new degree.

Does anyone know of any funding available to study again or any institutions with really reasonable payment plans?

For those wondering, I would like to study agronomy to become an agronomist.

That meant to say 'mesed up my funding'

Did you get your degree? If so, was it BSc or BSc Hons etc? If not, how many years did you study? Was any level of qualification awarded?

I think I completed about 1.5 years of study although did it part time over 4 years. I don't think I ever told them I was leaving for them to award me anything as I was abroad when I decided not to continue. Wouldn't want to contact them as I think I owe them money.

In order to start a new degree I think they will ask about your past education - they might ask to see any completed modules etc? If you are using student financing for the next degree they will surely link up past finances to your name ? Might be worth clearing / straightening that out first ? Assuming you’re in the UK?

If you completed your first degree you can get a Government Postgraduate Loan for a postgrad course. Google ...

Countless people chose the wrong thing first time round.

Have you engaged in any activity relevant to your chosen subject? That would help your applications.

I would use my science and maths A levels to gain entry to any new study.

I'm not able to use student financing hence why I'm asking if anyone knows of any other options for study.

Ah, sorry. Just seen your second post.

I don't have any worries about an application I'm referring to funding here. Or if anyone knows of any online places you can get a degree a lot cheaper.

Ah ok. Sorry I misunderstood. The only other way I know of is getting a job where your employer pays for your further education and then you agree to work for them for x number of years. Hopefully someone else may have ideas for you.

I would contact the university program leader/coordinator and ask about entry. They can advise you on funding and also entry requirements. I may be wrong, but I know that if your A-levels were obtained a long time ago, they may not accept them and ask you do a refresher or other course for entry.

If you are passionate about it, you will always find a way. Best of luck

If you study a science part time you are eligible for a loan despite having already had funding. Not if you want to study full time though. Not sure how many places you can do agronomy part time though!

Check the rules out OP and use the SFE quiz - I thought they had changed it so you could get further funding these days?

I did the same as you OP. I went back to study at the Open University, got my fees paid as I earned under a certain amount and I could fit it in around my part time job and DC. I wanted to do it for years but, like you, thought that I'd messed it up but there was a way. I only wish I'd realised earlier. I graduated and now doing a job I love and am interested in.

Assuming you're in England; as you studied part time and weren't awarded a qualification, your previous study might be disregarded and then you'd qualify for funding, all other eligibility requirements being met, of course. Call up SFE and tell them that, see what they say.

I did 2/3 of a degree back in 2006 and cashed it in for a Diploma of Higher Education as I was pregnant.

I have been studying an OU science one part time since 2016 5/6 of the way through now. My tuition fees have been fully paid through student loans. If your second degree is in a science then you can access more funding and I think that everyone has funding available for 5 years anyway - at least it was when I looked a few years ago - to allow for people who change course, providing they don't have a full degree already.

You may have to do a course called Access to Higher Education- usually at a college. It's about a year long but would help if you did your A levels too long ago for them to allow you in. I got into uni with 2 GCSEs and 1 A level last year though, so I'm sure you'd be okay. Contact the course leader- their information will be on the uni's website on the course's page. Explain your past with uni and ask if they are aware of any funding you could get to help pay for your degree. They may direct you to student/financial services who will let you know what you're eligble for.

It's great you have this drive, I hope everything goes well for you.

Take a look at the OU. I found them to be great. We could pay monthly. I didn't qualify for any assistance but they can help.

Shy bairns get nowt, as they say!

Sorry, I read your post but missed where you said you couldn't access student finance.
The OU allow fees to be paid monthly by DD, I think it works out at around £300 per month. They offer financial assistance for those on low incomes to pay for Internet access and childcare if your child is under school age

I'm doing a second degree, with the OU. Had funding with the first.
I was able to get another student loan to pay for it because I'm doing maths which is STEM subject.
So it depends on what you want to study, might be worth looking into OP.

I'm currently doing a maths degree with the OU, although I've already got a degree in another subject I was still ab

Did you get funding for the full degree even though you left after 1.5 years then?

If not, you can actually get a year's extra loan free, basically, for when you change your course or fail a year, so if you've only actually had 1.5 years' worth of student loan funding, you'd only need to pay for 0.5 years of the next degree yourself.

Or is there a standalone MSc version of the course you could do instead of a full BSc first/instead, and then funding would be accessible?

Are there any employers nearby who are offering a degree/higher apprenticeship for you to qualify?

nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/agronomist

Hi @Welikebeingcosy whereabouts in the UK are you?

Thanks everyone this is all really helpful. So yeah I already used up all five years of funding at the time because I went through a lot at the time and had to retake and then get down to part time study after a couple of years. In the end I ran out of funding and wasn't wanting to work in anything related to the course and it was a language degree and I felt that if I travelled I'd pick up more language by travelling.

I don't mind if I have to do an access course or even do another a level or something to get onto the course but I'll find out. My A levels were 12 years ago.

I'll check out OU although not sure I could manage 300 a month right now but worth looking into and also good to know about science degrees being awarded extra funding. Is this including if you don't already have a completed degree? For the MSc thing would you already have to have completed a bachelor's?

@moanieleminx haha I love that phrase. My ex used to say 'a closed mouth doesn't get fed'

There is a big drive at the moment to make agriculture a positive exciting choice for people including the launch of TIAH (see link).

Worth an email/phone call to these guys to look at more specific entrant funding options?

www.nfuonline.com/cross-sector/farm-business/training-and-skills/training-and-skills-news/tiah-a-new-body-for-skills/