Shall I embark on an A level in History? 36, full time worker, 2 small boys...

[TheGoddessBlossom]

Hi all.

Need MN's advise please (again).

Would be really interested in anyone that has decided to further educate themselves outside of the routine of daily life.

I have 4 As, 2 Bs and 3Cs at GCSE, and 2 As 1 B at A level, plus a 2:1 degree. I work full time from home mainly but travel alot locally and London for my sales job in IT. My boys are both at school, and I have childcare for them till 6pm every day.

I don't feel I am "using my brain" and really want to do something like another A-Level - don't think I am anywhere near looking at another degree or anything....thought maybe I could do another A-Level in my "spare" time? ( I don't have to watch Grey's Anatomy/Eastenders and Corrie/go to bed at 10pm) and remember the deep satisfaction I got by doing well at exams.

Any advice? Would I be taking on too much/regret it?

Bloss

x

What about a Masters degree? I have a friend doing one module every six months or so.

Have you looked into Open University?

really? You think? Wouldn't that be a massive committment?

The OU is made for study like you'd like. Have a look.

Yes it will be a commitment but why not? it sounds like you need something to get your teeth into, and I don't see why you should do an A-level when you have a very high standard of education already.

Is it possible for you to get study time/sponsorship from work?

It is doable. I went back to uni last year with 2 under 5's but I had friends/nursery that meant I had childcare. Although I was in uni all day I had to study at night, and I found after bedtime I had a good few hours every night to get stuff done, this just impacted on my 'veg in front of the telly' time and I was still done by half 9 and able to watch the good telly.

It is hard, especially when you really cba, or the kids are ill, but it is definately doable, especially (and dont take this the wrong way) if you are only doing an alevel. By which I mean I was doing a post grad degree but I had all day to do it too, if you onyl had evenings starting with an A level woudl be much more sensible!

The only problem I can forsee is that History is really dull

In your situation I'd look at doing a level one OU course.

The level one tends to bridge between A-level and first year undergrad, and if it's anything like their science courses, they will offer courses of differing lengths (and therefore time committments).

You can then learn at your own pace and either keep it as a one-off, do a couple, or put it towards a second degree.

I did two years with the OU before going to a "brick" Uni to do a degree as a mature student. It was a great experience (I wanted to keep my brain active after having my dd), and I hope one day to finish my degree with them.

Hmm - thanks. Just had a look at OU, looking at the History degree. If you had told me 15 years ago I'd be excited about looking at courses, ha ha what a joke!!

Look at the OU.
I am in a similar situation to you, 2 DCS, full-time job and did a degree with them.
I start my Masters next month!

Hi SauvignonBlanche - well done you! Very impressive. What is a masters? Is that just another degree? Or the next level up of your chosen subject after a degree?

A Masters is a higher degree then a Bachelor's. If you have a 2.1 Bachelor's degree, then I think you would be able to do a Master's degree.

sorry just saw the posts from Mrs Fez and and Spongebob..thanks for the advice. I think I will call OU and get them to talk me through the options.

"I don't feel I am "using my brain" ... Would be really interested in anyone that has decided to further educate themselves outside of the routine of daily life"

What's to stop you from reading up on a subject that interests you? For fun. And it's free, too.
Are you only 'educated' if you have a certificate at the end of the process?

senua, I find that having an exam/assignment to work towards not only helps me understand the subject more thoroughly, but also gives me the impetus to read something other then mumsnet all day.

Formal learning has encouraged me to learn things that I would never have thought to learn by myself.

Hi Senua - I would definitely value being taught by a qualified teacher, and having a recognised qualification at the end of it over mooching through books on a topic and not having someone better qualified than me point out things and make observations I would otherwise surely miss.

Definatelty look at OU, I know nothing about OU courses but sounds like you have some good advice on ehre!
A masters might be doable. I am going to do a masters in the next couple of years, it will be 3 weekends a year and a (gulp)40k dissertation but is designed around people doing my job, so full time workers.

Easy enough if you are committed to it and put the time in.

I have a very similar educational background to yourself. After DS1 I joined the OU and did a couple of socsci and child dev masters courses. Then after DS2 I went back to do level one science degree course (my 2:1 is in history) and now I am halfway through level 2 of a geology and chemistry science degree!