To consider college/uni at 30?

[Wolfie11]

I am a 29 year old single mum with a 10 year old DS. He will go to secondary school next year and I am debating going to college then to do an access course with the view of going on to university (possibly to do teaching/psychology/social work). I work 30 hours a week at the moment in a job that I enjoy and is really flexible etc but I don’t make a lot of money at all. I make just under £18,000 and if I’m being honest, it’s a massive struggle. I live month to month and never have any spare cash. I have zero savings, I’m not in a pension and my job has no career progression. It’s extremely unlikely I will ever get a decent pay rise.

Am I crazy for thinking about doing this at my age? I would probably be 35 before I would have a degree/finish the course which puts me off massively but then I think by the time I’m 40 I will hopefully be on a decent salary, whereas if I continue the way I am at the moment I’ll be unlikely to be on much more than I am just now at 40. I imagine it would be a struggle trying to study and probably work part time but it’s a struggle just now regardless.

If anyone has any advice that would be really helpful. Also, if anyone has any suggestions on possible career options I am more than open to them all!

DH and I both did our degrees in out 30s. We both took 4 years out of work - him for an Acces course to start and me for a Masters to finish. We both found work using those degrees.

When I went there were a couple of women in your position and they knuckled down and found that their best was very well received by lecturers, graded well.

Having also taught mature learners using my degrees I would say go fro it. And make sure that you have at a good relationship with at least one member of staff/mentor each year to help as and when needed. They will be able to give you support with finances and all sorts of things.

Have fun!

It sounds like a great plan Wolfie!

You could either take some sort of access course (some unis offer their own ones in Scotland) OR study for a 'certificate of higher education' with the OU (free in Scotland, if your income is lower than £25k as you can receive a 'part-time fee grant' for an OU course, even if it's 120 (equivalent to full time) credits each year.

If you go down the OU route, you can then decide whether use your credits to apply to a brick uni after 1 or 2 years (e.g. Edinburgh Uni requires 120 credits of OU courses for entry to year 1 for some courses) OR whether to carry on with the OU.

As you say, at the moment in 10 years you’ll be in the same position you are now
if you do the course, in 10 years you may be in a different position.
you’ve got about 35-40 years left of working, if you started at 16, that’s still well over 50% of your work life ahead of you. Why not make it more enjoyable and focused on what you want to do. Or at least more financially beneficial.

Oh also just to add- if you've not studied before then SAAS will cover a full-time course in Scotland and I think you can also receive a loan and bursary for living costs (although this may affect any benefits that you receive).

Not for salary reasons, but I did a degree recently, graduating last year (aged 41).

For me it was more of a closure thing, having dropped out of uni the first time around. This time I chose a subject I was passionate in and finished it for my own benefit - though I have started to use the knowledge more and more in a semi-professional way.

Am giving real thought to following up with a Masters, I enjoyed it so much!

Go for it.. I was 30 when i had my Daughter in 2008, after going back from maternity leave 2 days a week i did an access course the other 3 days, then went to uni and qualified as a mental health nurse. Best thing i ever did.

I’d say go for it but chose your degree carefully. Psychology degrees don’t really have a direct route and you’d need a PhD to practice. So be wary you aren’t getting into lots of debt to not change your position at all