To request annual leave on six consecutive Thursdays to attend a course

[norwichisthebest]

I am considering retraining as a counsellor, social worker or a related discipline. I'm still reasonably young. I currently work in the civil service (fairly junior level) and I'm not overly happy in my job. I have seen an introductory course to counselling that I'm really interested in doing so that I can dip my toe in and see if it's something I'd like to pursue further. It is taking place for six weeks during the day on Thursdays. I would be willing to use 6 days of my annual leave to attend. Do you think it would be unreasonable to request 6 consecutive Thursdays off work for this purpose?

Not at all, use how you want. If you are thinking of sw look at your local council some will pay you to train.

Why would it be unreasonable? It’s your annual leave to do what you want! It sounds like a great idea!

Reasonable unless there is a part of your job that only happens on a Thursday and you would be imposing on others.

I think it’s absolutely fine to ask. It’s your holiday to use as you wish. Life is too short to not be doing something you find fulfilling. Another option maybe to check open university for online courses you can do in evenings/weekends remotely. Good luck!

It's not unreasonable at all, but I would suggest discussing with your manager before committing to the course to make sure you can get the days off.

I just thought maybe it would be an issue to ask for so many of the same day in a row off but it's reassuring that you all don't seem to think it's a huge no-no! There's nothing in my job that only happens on a Thursday

Sounds like a great plan to me.

It depends- is there a limit to how many people can have the same day off?

if not, crack on.

if there is, you need to talk to your colleagues and make sure they’re ok, or your line manager and make sure there are plans in place.

for example, we are only allowed one person per team off at a time. So if someone booked 6 Thursdays in a row, anyone else wanting a long weekend or a Thursday off is stuffed.

someone did request it once for a similar reason to you- management agreed and were flexible with the one person rule for those days.

Definitely not unreasonable to make the request for leave!
It may be worth contacting the college where you are hoping to do the course, sometimes they offer evening courses.
you’re in the same position I was a few years ago, I did counselling level 2 and 3, then got my degree. I’ve just completed a post graduate in social work and start my job as a social worker on Monday!

There are plenty of options to get into social work. Take a look at Step up to social work, Think Ahead and Frontline. These are three fast track courses that provide you with a bursary.
As someone else has said you can also consider employment through your local council and they will fund the course for you. Best of luck!

It wouldn’t work very easily at my work place. Taking single days is acceptable for education or occasional appointments but not on a regular basis unless it is sanctioned by the team and in everyone’s best interests.

I did that course some years ago, but in the evenings 6-9 pm. Does this version take all day? Depending on where you live you ought to be able to find an evening run of it, if you want to save your leave.

Not unreasonable, all you can do is ask!
Another note, Social Worker and Therapist here. Some LA’s will pay you to train as a Social Worker. Also, counselling/psychotherapy has a lot of hidden costs associated with training such as external supervision and personal therapy.

Go for it especially because our wonderful government are going to get rid of 10000 civil servants. Good luck with it.

I took a 10-week course by booking 10 half-days as AL, @norwichisthebest .
It was worth it.

Go ahead, good for you.

Quite reasonable to make the request.

@lazyarse123 , good to see appreciation for the government. Thanks.

Doesn't seem at all unreasonable. Good luck.

I really hope that's sarcasm.

There is someone at my work who takes their entire annual leave on fridays. It pisses my boss of but they cant say or do anything about it as there is not a good reason to say it can't happen.

I did something similar, my manager was happy to approve it even though it was our team meeting day, she offered to catch up with me afterwards about anything important. It was a great course and totally worth it.

A number of years ago I did something similar. The workshops I took were hobby related, rather than something potentially career related, buy took the same afternoon off for about 6 weeks. Have known others take a specific day off for a number of weeks too.

If you're using annual leave for it, I don't see why not, so long as your team has sufficient cover for the days you want to take. I've reduced my hours down so I have 1.5 study days a week while I study for an additional degree, which will (hopefully) ultimately result in a career change. Also, I tend to find that Thursdays (or Tues -Thurs generally) are much better for team members having time off approved since far more tend to request either a Friday or Monday off to have a longer weekend. Best of luck with your course - hope you enjoy it!