AIBU to leave my job and study full-time at university?

[SquirrelySponges]

Hello,

I am currently trying to make a decision after weighing up my choices and need to know if I am being really silly or am actually doing the right thing!

I am in my 40s and a single Mum of a primary school child. I currently work 19 hours a week doing shifts (days, lates and nights) and get a UC top up too and the housing element to help with my rent. I want to make some changes, get a better paid job with better hours etc. And to get off benefits and eventually buy a property etc. The only way to do this is retrain as I dont have the qualifications to get a very well paid job. I have been going to college in the evenings and got a level 3 qualification but need to take it to degree level get a job in it.

I was going to do this part time at Uni, cut my hours at work to 17 a week to get Tuesdays off to attend, and do a lot of course work from home. But being part time I can only get student finance for the fees and not get a maintenance loan or any other grants etc. I went to a meeting with the Uni finance team today and they have advised me to do it full time instead. Then I can get a maintenance loan and a parent learning allowance and UC should give me a bit more as I will be earning less so they reckon I may not need to work to give me more time for study and family life.

I have asked so many official people and bodies how this will work so have an idea but I want to hear from people that have done similar. I've heard scare stories that UC can insist you work instead and may sanction me for leaving ny job. But I really am trying to better myself and my life.

So I am after a bit of advice from anyone that has been through similar or well anyone that knows a bit about this sort of thing please.

Thank you for reading and for any advice

YABU - Stay at work and dont be silly
YANBU - Go for it, do the full time course

Like speech and language therapy, nursing, midwifery, occupational therapy, physiotherapy etc.

I'm inclined to agree here. I hate sabotaging others hopes and dreams but counselling won't pay what you think it will OP. Please reconsider an access course to one of the steady occupations I have mentioned above.

I am in receipt of UC as I study part time with the OU...but I am also classed as a carer.

The OU is very flexible and a great way to study.

I Was all set to encourage you until I saw it’s counselling you’re studying. I have both family and friends who work in this field, the only one who is earning more than 15k a year is teaching it at Uni and has a MA. They teach because they weren’t earning much.

I would have said yes til I realised it was counselling. I think your ambition is brilliant but I would choose a better vocation.

I studied part-time at University as a mature student and worked the rest of the week.

It might be something you might want to look at?

I think is definitely a good idea to study to get a better job, but also make sure you choose a good degree and have enough money to live on.

Also some adult education colleges offer recognised counselling qualifications. For example if you live in or around London the City Lit does and they might have lower fees for people on benefits.
https://www.citylit.ac.uk/courses/counselling-and-psychotherapy?opti_ca=22610190862&opti_ag=192423482287&opti_ad=791845746123&opti_key=kwd-366088277179&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22610190862&gbraid=0AAAAAC_Z83yrmXu4xwdmxlP7NMA5GqxS6&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4NKSrIailgMVHptQBh1ieguBEAAYASAAEgKGG_D_BwE

As others have said, a degree in counselling is likely going to cost you a lot for not much reward (financially). AHP degrees tend to offer a training grant of 5k pa with an additional 2k pa if you have children, which I don't believe is taken into account as earnings for universal credit. I know graduate jobs are hard to come by at the moment we they are everywhere but i would think more stability than counselling could offer you. It's great that you want more for yourself.

You’re not going to able to buy your own house on a counselling salary, if you can get a job at the end of it, whilst paying off student debt.

I agree with the other comments about being very, very careful about going into the counselling business at this point in time. I use the word ‘business’ intentionally, because that is what it is.

I have had some involvement in the field and it is undergoing significant changes. It is very difficult to get a salaried job in counselling. The local counselling organisation near me recently went into administration, with the loss of umpteen staff. A national provider went under a couple of years ago. Online providers like Better Help promote a low-cost, commoditised zero-hours model where you will be scrambling around for paying hours. Even the fact that every second person seems to be sharing their problems with AI reduces the demand for counselling.

How many people do you know who have paid for counselling?

It has historically been something done privately as a second career or by the spouses of high earners, with a nice garden office or large house with off-road parking for clients. That model is certainly alive and well!

At the risk of being ageist, another thing I have observed is that counsellors never, ever seem to retire, so there isn’t much natural movement in the market for new people coming in. If you set up privately you will be competing with highly experienced counsellors who are working well into their seventies. And why not, it can be done from home, sitting down, you get better with time, it’s fascinating…so it’s a perfect job to do part-time until you literally drop.

I would suggest that you stick with the part-time study plans but have very realistic expectations about what counselling might entail.

Hypnotherapy is unregulated (which is wrong IMO) but you could probably train to do that more quickly and cheaply. Fees for hypnotherapy sessions are usually high. Worth looking into if you are determined to go down the 'counselling' route.

I’m studying social work full time, but so far I’ve only needed to actually go into university 1-2 days a week, so have been able to work at least two shifts a week. Although that changes when I’m on f/t placement.
S/W has pretty decent career prospects, can be quite well paid and your counselling skills will be valuable. It is also very varied and could be a better option for you. There is also an NHS bursery available to you.
Good luck OP.

Op, get an education. Do it all. I had kids young, landed up a single patent! Worked to put them all through uni! Huge regret now is not doing it for myself all those years ago when I really wanted to. Now I couldn't be bothered and very near retirement so not fussed.

Definitely a good idea to improve your prospects but like PP I'm not sure about the route you're suggesting.

I've been self employed and know well the frustrations of working in a saturated marketplace. Speak to your professional body, other counsellors, business advisors, potential employers. Establish supply and demand and what existing professionals see as the future of the industry. And find out if the extra qualifications actually mean anything because if they don't you can save yourself a load of time and money.

If you do decide on the uni route then OU is extremely flexible.

Alternatively, look for an apprenticeship with a large employer. It won't be in counselling but there are hundreds of other work areas you could consider.

Why can't you work more hours? You need to build your financial independence, not get into debt and expect 'UC' to cover more.

Hsve you even seriously looked at 'counselling' as a career?

I think it’s a saturated market. Plus it’s very expensive, most people just cannot justify paying £60 per hour for a counselling session.

also consider how many people are turning to chat GPT for talking therapy now.

I don’t mean to shit all over your dreams but you’ll graduate with a load of debt all for a qualification that probably won’t bear fruit. I’d look at other allied health profession careers tbh.

Also in this predicament op. Im 40, absolutely sick of my job and it's a role I always wanted to do. After a particularly bad day I applied via clearing and have been offered a place. Trying to decide whether to walk away from my full time paid role to go be a student is more about the money for me. My husband, older children and family think I should do it.

This is the advice my 72 year old dad gave me, if there is something in life you really want to do and it could potentially give you a better income and quality of life than you have now then go for it. Life is short and you dint want to get to my age and have regrets and wish you had done something that you didn't do through fear. If it doesn't work and you hate it, you can go back to the life you have now.

I'm studying full time at the moment doing a post grad diploma and am managing to.do some work as well and there are plenty of people working more than me. Is it worth checking how full time it is? Mine is online so you can catch up after if needed.

Another idea. I recently met someone who is a counsellor in a school and did all her qualifications at college to level 6 I believe and has her own counselling business that she does in the evenings. Is this an idea ? Seems to combine work with study.

Out of those jobs, currently only SLTs and OTs aren’t struggling to find employment. The rest of them are.

Sorry OP but this is a bad choice for someone who needs a reliable income. The market is flooded and some organisations prefer to use semi qualified unpaid councillors rather than paying full whack. If you do the full training it's very expensive including your own personal therapy and having to do free placements. Great idea to train in something but check the job prospects first.

Student maintainence is pretty much deducted in full from UC apart from £110 a month I think so could leave you with little UC.
I would not give up the job unless the degree is going to lead to something definite. Graduates are scrambling around trying to get whatever jobs they can ( if any ) at the moment. My newly graduated DS is working in retail 16 hours a week and feels lucky to have that. Of course things will hopefully be better in three years.

Have to echo others on counselling, it’s a saturated market. I have a couple of friends who’ve completed the BACP long qualification diplomas recently and have been struggling since to build up their practice. In their cases it’s not so much of an issue, they both left big careers where they’d earned big money and so had largely paid off mortgages and built up savings and were intentionally downsizing their lifestyles and work commitments. They have some success offering tiered “pay what you can” fee structures - so many people who want or need counselling simply can’t afford or don’t want to pay much for it - but that’s no good to you if you want to build a profitable practice which supports you in improving your life and getting away from benefits in the longer term.

Op would likely get some UC but student maintenance loans will severely reduce the amount she gets.

Hi, OP.

You will still get some UC but your student loan will reduce it:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/universal-credit-and-students

For each assessment period, they don't take into account £110. Here is how they calculate it:
https://www.turn2us.org.uk/get-support/information-for-your-situation/full-time-students-and-benefits/how-much-universal-credit-will-i-get

You may also get a Parents' Learning Allowance, which is a grant and UC do not calculate this against your entitlement:
https://www.gov.uk/parents-learning-allowance

Good luck!

If you want a full time job as a therapist in the NHS, a counselling course won’t cut it. You’ll need a psychology or psychiatry degree and probably a masters, and hours and hours of unpaid work experience. I know several people studying counselling or variations of it and all are in a financially privileged position and doing it around work, with the aim of setting up as independent therapists. All are doing unpaid work experience with charities and most are worried about how much work they’ll find when they finish. None expect to earn much, and counselling networks (Facebook and WhatsApp groups etc) are full of people worried about finding work. It’s a saturated market. Full time jobs as counsellors/therapists are basically non-existent outside of the NHS and some charities or a couple of private practices and will probably require a full psychology qualification. I understand the drive to pursue something you’re passionate about but it is not the path to a well-paid career. The independent therapists charging £££ an hour tend to have decades of high-level clinical experience.

I know this advice means well but it's a little naive.

She could easily end up in a worse position than she is in now and with a child to look after. Especially in the current economic climate.

As others have said, counselling is notoriously hard to make a good living from. There's very little chance of buying a house through this route.

She could easily come out of studying and find the job she was in is no longer available to her. Add on top of that student debt and being older in the workplace and back to square one.

As others have said, it would be better to choose a route that would lead to a career where there is a real need for people and more likely to find employment.

No one is saying don't make a change just make sure it's a good and realistic plan.