Partner wants to go to uni, worried about finances

[Bellfox95]

My partner is 37 and has decided he would like to go to university and study social work. I’m really happy for him he’s been stuck in a care role for the longest time and has struggled with deciding what he wants to do.

I am just slightly concerned how we are actually going to live for the next 3 years while he doesn’t have an income.
It’s just me and him at home, and his daughter who’s 17 is going to move in during the summer and go to a college near us.

I work full time and earn £25,500. We have about £6000 of debt, and our monthly outgoing are about £1050, not including food or clearing the debt at all.
Im also not really sure how student finances work or what he would actually be entitled too, I am presuming tuition fees and a maintenance loan?

Sounds like a cocklodger to me!

I'm a social work admissions tutor. Hope this clarifies a few things for you.
Bursary - The bursary mentioned by pp is available to about 85% of people in years 2 and 3 of the course. Universities will have allocation criteria usually based on attendance and performance in the first year. There's also a travel bursary to cover the cost of travel to and from placement which is available to all students.
Working and studying - Most students work. He'll be able to work weekends, holidays (summer break is May - September) and, depending on the timetable, at least a day/week. Placements are usually split along the lines of 70 days in year 2 and 100 days in year 3, are mostly full time, and people struggle to work more than 1 day/week. Check this with the universities he's applying to. A number of students are offered work by their placements and final year placements sometimes lead to qualified sw job offers.
Other routes - Other pp have mentioned schemes such as Step Up. Unfortunately these are fast track graduate schemes for people with degrees in other subjects. Social Work apprenticeships are organised by local authorities and most only recruit internally. If your DP is directly employed by a local authority they may offer it. The Open University course is designed for people already working for an employer who is assessed as being able to provide suitable placements (similar to the apprenticeship).
Employment - If he wants to work in children's safeguarding then he'll be able to walk into a job. SW with adults is also fairly easy to get into. Jobs in more niche areas such as youth offending or mental health come up less frequently but are something you can work towards when in work. Once you've completed your first 12 months (ASYE scheme) there'll be a jump in salary.
Ignore the gloomy negative people. Most students are mature (25+), with lives and families. They cope. Its a challenging job but someone's got to do it. Mature students bring so much more and these are the people we want to come into social work.
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions especially around applications or interviews.

He should be eligible for some maintenance loan ( check the Student Finance rates) he may also get a bursary and he should check whether the uni he is attending has any grants available to students with dependents ( such as his daughter) and as others have said perhaps he could work part time. Will his ex sign over thechild benefit for his daughter?