Please could someone advise me of my options after a rubbish degree

[MoldyWarp]

I have been a sahm and very happy for a million years but am thinking of retraining late in life

I went to a red brick university but attained an absolutely RUBBISH degree grade although as an adult I now fully accept that i did bloody well considering (crap life at time)

Anyway my degree does not reflect my ability and I would like to better it.....

Do i have to go back and do another BA/BSc??? I think I do which would be such a waste. Is there any option for me to do some sort of distance degree to better the one I have or attain a masters or does my existing degree mean nothing?

I contacted the OU last year and they did not seem to know and passed me from pillar to post with no real answers.

I graduated in 1990 btw

Thank you!

thankyou so much OACDB i will do that now....

hmmm that was a speedy NO!!!!
2:2 OR ABOVE!

Is that set in stone though? Your degree was so long ago. Call them and discuss!

It might be useful to talk to a few universities to see what they recommend that you need to get onto the social work MA.

I don't think the academic requirements are set in stone for the mature student (hope you don't mind being called mature!)

gawd no webwiz I know i am! I did talk at LENGTH t the OU last year but the upshot was that no one actually knew. They said they could see i was a 'different' case but still unsure how to proceed

Maybe i should just apply and get knocked back......

Just checked my uni. Yes 2:2 and 12mths experience.

You need to call them. You were young and probably partying back then! Ask what you need to do to get on course!

I agree with OADCB - phone the uni and see what they say then you'll have a clearer idea about what will be useful.

I have an old Psychology degree (I graduated in 1988) after doing lots of things unrelated to Psychology I have regretted not actually using my degree. I started a Psychological Research Methods MSc with the OU last year and am really enjoying it. I have a few ideas where I might be going with it but its been great to get my brain going properly again!

thanks so much for your advice - i will definitely act on it and pick up the phone like you say

My reasons for failing so badly (lame!) are actually quite valid and despite keeping quiet at the time - later i acted on my experiences and someone was prosecuted.... The thing is you can't go into detail with someone on a help line and it all just sounds a bit shit...

It is background into why i did so badly though....grrrr

I don't think its necessary to go into details just say you had personal problems that affected your result. They don't need to know any more than that to give you advice (I don't think they even need that really).

Best of luck with it all.

thanks webwiz i know you are right

Will have another quick rec of OU website now and see what is on offer...

Alternatively I could do with some means of finding our what the country is SHORT OF right now...so that i could look and see if anything interests me and know that it has prospects IYSWIM?

Definately worth having a conversation about getting on a course with your current quals.

I got on a BA (Hons) course when I was aged 32 despite only having got 2 'O' levels and 3 CSEs when I left school at 16.

My life experience (not so much work exp as the degree was unrelated to my job) and my obvious passion for the subject that came over in an interview with the subject leader was what got me in.

If you're short of cash, unfortunately a new BA is now out for you, unless you do it in one of the shortage subjects that still gets ELQ funding - which may be well worth it. But there are plenty of MAs that will tske you with a poor first degree and lots of life experience in the meantime - just email the postgrad admissions tutor direct with a detailed query. However, be aware that there is very little funding available fir MAs and you otherwisd have to pay fees up front.

Have you thought about teaching as a possible career?

I am doing an MSc in OT. They stipulated a 2.1 but I got a 2.2 in 1996.

They also looked at my work and life experience which are just as important in jobs like SW and OT I think.

I do find the academic stuff harder than the recent graduates but I learn from them and they learn from the more mature among us. It works well.

Good luck!

Hi,
I saw this and just had to answer. I was in exactly the same position as you. My degree was gained in the early 1980's. I wont go into reasons as to why I didnt do better.

However, after batting around with silly jobs I got my act together in the mid 1990's. I looked through the local university part time courses and found they did a modular masters. One course at a time, paid for module by module and I could either take it as an interest course or complete the assignments and get a credit toward a Masters.

They didnt bother about my degree. I just enrolled. After that, which took me 18 months to complete, I went into FE and taught. I am still teaching. My advice would be - go and ask. Find a course, enroll and see what happens. Loads of folk out there with none too good degrees from yours and my generations. Most of us underachived and most of us have done it the Masters way. I now have a Ph.D by the way.

Best of luck.

If you want to do another undergraduate degree, the OU will give you credit transfer. Depends on the degree you want to do though. The Open Degree may be your best bet as you may get the full 240 points towards that. Named degrees are stricter regarding credit transfer but you can often get some points from your previous degree even if it's in an unrelated subjest. Might be worth checking on this.

Hi there, you can still do a Masters if you have a rubbish first degree. What you will need to do is speak to the admissions tutor of preferred degree/university. Masters applications are dealt with by humans (!) therefore they'll be able to decide through interviews that actually you will be a suitable candidate for their course (or not). good luck!