Working 26 hours and being a full time student- is it doable?

[Kelpop94]

I was wondering if this is manageable or if I’m making a mistake, I’m doing a psychology BSc degree full time, it’s all day Thursday and Friday and my work has agreed to drop my hours so I work 8am-6pm Monday and Tuesday and 9am-6pm Wednesday - is this doable while studying? I’d love to know other people’s expirences.

If you are really focused, then yes. You have evenings and weekends to study, around your work and time at University.

If you are going to say you have 2 yr old twins and year old triplets and are a single parent with no family support, then I'd say not

Two days a week isn't full time!

@bringonthescience and op - it won’t be just 2 days, though. You will be expected to do reading and private study on top. Having said that, if you’re organised it’s totally doable.

It very much depends on your circumstances, the ones you seem to have left out.

I did a psychology degree part time with a part time job, three DC and a DH who was mainly abroad. It almost broke me. What support systems do you have?

That said, some people with family support seemed to manage just fine!

user It's still not full-time! Of course there'll be reading, researching, planning, writing, etc. But two days of contact time is not a "full time".

For the people saying 2 days isn't full time, it's two full days and the university classes that as full time so the other 3 days I'll be squeezing in 26 hours of work, I'm 25 with a husband and my own house, I was just wondering if other people has made this work - I don't think I'll be studying after work as I'll be doing 10 to 12 hour shifts but will weekends and 2 evenings be enough?

Yes, I did my second degree like this. You just have to be selfish with your "free" time. It worked well for me! And give yourself one clear day a week off (I suggest Saturday), even if it means you have to hunker down and do 8 or 10 hours on Sunday.

PS: make sure you spend time with your friends and partner on Saturday, too!

I did my first degree with the OU working full time on the road 12 hours a day, had two small children. But I did have a supporting partner, and took four years. Have just finished a MSc full time. Most of the people on my course are working full time as well. I think that’s normal these days. The only problem came when he had to spend time in the lab that was only available 12 till 5.

A lot depends on the degree course. How many hours do reasonably conscientious students dedicate to study at your university for psychology (lets say aiming at mid 2:1)? I'd guess about 30 dedicated hours a week. You get about 1 month holiday at Christmas, Easter and 3 months in the summer.

So, if you do paid work for 26 hours a week and study for 30 this adds up to a 56 hours week - but only for 7 months of the year. Not too bad - plenty of people do that many hours in their job. You just have to accept that you dont have a lot of free time and need to be fresh to study.

It's possible, but it will be very hard work and you will miss out on some of the social aspects of being in university.
Also for psychology you sometimes have to do certain group work / studies so be prepared to take annual leave to fit with other student schedules, especially as most full time students would be less inclined to do group work on weekends.

I did the same degreewith no dh or dc. I worked for a company on an as and when basis and easily did 24 hours a week minimum, BUT I always had the option of not working or droppingitvright down if I needed it too. There were weeks when every module had essays due in concurrently.admittedly I am not the best student but I'm not terrible at planning. I couldn't do them all in time and sometimes needed more time off yo do them. Is say give it a go and see how your course works out. Bear in mind the timetablebus likely to change each year so you may end up in fora couple of hours here and there on random days.good luck

I did 30 hours at work and part time study and found it difficult, there is SO much reading, and during assignments I had to book a week off work as was so much to do. Now have a first class.hons degree and work at the same job as before so feel like was a bit of a pointless time

I did my first year of psychology whilst working full time, 5 days a week and pregnant so I would definitely say yes. I'm doing it as a distance course so I have to be strict with myself on an evening/weekend and work give me half a day a week now too.

It's not so easy now I have 10 month old DD and I'm back at work 30 hours too.