Aibu to be upset?

[HelpMyJob]

cross posting here to hopefully get more advice!

I left a well paid job at the beginning of the year within finance, to pursue a career I have always wanted to but always thought I wasn’t clever enough. For context, I am young and have a degree in an unrelated subject. Further context is that I took a huge pay cut for this job, now working minimum wage, with the expectation that it was worth the few shit years for the graft.

I got offered an entry level position in the field I want to work, with the promise of progression over time etc. The main favoured route for my employer is via an apprenticeship as obviously they get the government funding for this.

As some may have recently seen, the government is now stopping funding for over 21s for such apprenticeships. This means that it’s no longer an option for me (employer won’t just pay for it).
I just feel really stuck and upset with my options.

As I have a non related degree, I’d have to do a conversion course (no funding) or a masters that is also conversion. I could get postgraduate funding for the masters but it wouldn’t cover the full amount and I don’t have the spare money to cover the difference. It’s not as simple as saving as now I’m on minimum wage I literally have nothing spare. I can’t do any of the ‘traditional’ options as I have used up my undergrad funding already.

alongside this, I will also have to sit exams to fully qualify, which get no funding no matter which option I did and cost £5000 approx. So even if for arguments sake I could scrimp the difference for the conversion, it wouldn’t matter as I couldn’t afford the exams.

a colleague suggested asking if work would pay for the exams and I could repay from my wages, but as I’m on minimum wage i don’t know if that’s even possible? And even so I don’t have the spare money to do so.

I just feel so disheartened as the apprenticeship felt like my way in, it was perfect to go alongside work and I didn’t have to pay into it. I don’t know where to go from here. I can’t afford anything on my wage, but I have to keep this position to keep gaining the experience needed to do the career at the end.

i just feel all in a mess and like it’s all going wrong! I felt as though I’d finally figured out what I wanted to do in life and now it’s all down the drain. My finance job made me miserable but at least I had money, I’m now thinking should I have just stayed? I love my current role but the pay is unsustainable and it’s designed as a role no one does for long as they progress into a higher position.

any help and advice welcomed!!!

Go back to finance, save for a few years, then self fund.

Surely with your experience you just go back into finance? It's not what you want but it's sensible

Agreed or take the course online at the same time as working and quit when you have qualified .

Unfortunately it’s not as simple as going back to finance, the role I did has been massively thinned since I left (still have a friend working there) they’re making redundancies this year and it will continue. No one is hiring for the job I did at all. I can’t move to a city where that may be a different story as we have a house with a mortgage, family close by etc etc

Then you'll have to do what most people do and get a job related to your degree but less well paid and then retrain when you can afford too. Either you make the sacrifice, move, have the upheaval and get to your end goal faster or you stay put and do it more slowly.

also to add that my previous position actually led me to seeking therapy due to the impact on my mental health (partially bulling from manager but partially the role itself) the idea of going back feels worse than working in a dead end job forever

There are no jobs related to my degree without extra training unfortunately (it’s History) and I actually need my current role to qualify at all (needs a minimum amount of work experience in a related role)

Have you talked to your employer? Maybe they have another way you could move up.

You are not unreasonable to upset about how things have planned out. That is completely understandable.

But these things happen and sometimes we have to swap to Plan B. As others have said, if you can go back to a higher paying job, you can bank the difference in take home pay, and get some savings, to use towards getting more appropriate qualifications, and then restart in the career you want - but hopefully at a higher starting salary.

Did you apply for the apprenticeship as part of taking the minimum wage job?

Not really, I didn’t know the salary was minimum wage when I applied as it wasn’t listed. They only stated the salary on the offer and with the offer came a promise of development/progression in the form of the apprenticeship. On balance I decided that would be the only way I’d qualify and therefore could take the hit of the minimum wage for a couple years to get where I want to be

I think I do need to have a proper sit down with them and work something out. Even if they offered to cover certain elements for example, I could possibly make it work with the right level of support from them. I should add as well that my boss is in charge of the firm and is keen for me to do well and progress so I think that bodes well for me

Thank you! I feel so silly for being so upset!

as mentioned going back to the other role isn’t really possible unfortunately. For many reasons but largely, I wouldn’t get the position now as it’s being culled, and I need my current position to have enough qualifying experience for the eventual career anyway.

What field are you trying to move into? Maybe someone can offer some more specific advice.

Had a quick Google. It starts January 2026 about over 21 funding. If you are enrolled now wouldnt the funding continue?

kaplan.co.uk/apprenticeships/employers/level-7-funding-changes

'To ensure Level 7 apprenticeship applications can be fully processed for learners aged 22 and over before the upcoming funding changes come into effect, all necessary information must be submitted as part of the application form no later than Friday 21 November 2025.'

Im not enrolled into the apprenticeship yet, the plan was for me to start next September! I’m going to look into if any places do a delayed start but I don’t think that is possible