NEW BOARD!

[EdmontinaDonsAutumnalHues]

Welcome everyone!

Thank you to MNHQ. This brand new board is the progeny of this thread:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/site_stuff/4327788-Is-there-a-specific-Mature-Study-Retraining-board?msgid=110096218

and about a hundred others that people have posted recently, asking whether they’re too old / have left it too late to start or return to education or training at any level.

Not all mature students will feel the need to participate. And I know ‘mature’ is an imprecise term … If you’ve wondered if you’re too old this is definitely the place for you!

And if you’re in the middle of your course, or have finished and have the time to share your experience, please do!

It needs to be said that universities and other educational or training institutions really welcome potential candidates who are older than the standard age. And they are generally perfectly willing to point you in the right direction if it’s years or decades since you last studied anything.

If you’ve started a thread on this subject recently do feel free to ask MNHQ to move it here. If you’ve read or posted on one, you may want to let the OP know this board now exists. The idea is to gather all possible knowledge, support, and advice - on funding, courses, locations, career prospects, etc in one place.

Enjoy the new board!

Thanks for getting this up and running

Ah - I’ve been wondering how you’ve been getting on ChazsBrilliantAttitude. (I did a similar-ish thing to you, same areas but less sensible route: profession, long gap, MA.) So I’m a bit invested in your having a brilliant time.

Thanks for making this happen:-)

Hi fellow students and retrainers 😁

Hello!

Go make some threads!

Or coax other people into doing so.

Hi, thanks for starting this

The new board is here. Fab work Edmontina

Hello everyone!

Yay! All the brilliant knowledge and tips won't get lost now! And it's going to be great to be able to point all the people who are musing about changing careers/going back to to study etc to an area where there is lots of knowledgeable mumsnetters hanging out, rather than it being hit and miss if someone sees it.

Oh and finally all the lurkers, who may not post but read, and take on board the great advice, which can be life changing!

All that!

Great to see you here, ChocolateCauldron. How is your great new adventure going?

Hello . Thanks Edmontina for making this happen

Loving it! It's great to be stretched and using my brain, but the biology module is solid! I've never studied biology before, so I've had to put in extra hours of study (going over and over my notes, reading ahead for the next lecture etc) as I'm not naturally picking it up as I go along...

The other modules are really interesting, and I'm coming out bursting with ideas! I feel invigorated and full of energy....and completely exhausted by the end of the day!

Yay! Fabulous news, will be lurking here trying to decide what I want to do my Master's in!

Very excited to find this as I embark on career #3 at 57 and 3/4. I'm finding the new learning intoxicating and am really looking forward to hearing more of your experiences here.

I've signed up for a free course in digital media. I'm not even sure what it is really but it's for women in their mid life.

hoping link works

What are you studying, CrepuscularCritter?

Intoxicating is one of the three words I used to describe my postgrad study. Shattering and terrifying were the other two.

Thanks @EdmontinaDonsAutumnalHues and MNHQ for making this happen.
I’m hoping to start a masters in 2023 when I will be 60 so I’m currently looking around to see what’s available.
In my dreams I’d go back and do another undergrad degree in a different subject because I certainly didn’t appreciate the opportunity when I was 18 and only chose the subject because I thought it was useful. It has been useful but it didn’t fulfil my soul.

I think I can relate to the other two Edmontina. I'm doing my PGCE which is my first uni-based qualification since an MBA in my late twenties, although I've done a lot of technical and vocational stuff in between. Scared and thrilled in equal measures.

We are never too old to learn! My mother has just started learning Hebrew and she's 80.

I'm doing back to registration retraining mid 50's. I'd hesitate at a complete retrain, but it wouldn't be because I'd not want to study, it would be the cost of the university courses!

Are you aware of Government Postgraduate Loans, beautifullymad?

Anyone in England, under 60, in possession of an undergraduate degree (no matter how long ago) but without a Master’s degree is eligible. As are most postgraduate courses.

@EdmontinaDonsAutumnalHues

Are you aware of Government Postgraduate Loans, beautifullymad?

Anyone in England, under 60, in possession of an undergraduate degree (no matter how long ago) but without a Master’s degree is eligible. As are most postgraduate courses.

I didn't know this. Thank you!

Earned our keep already!

The government postgraduate loans are one of the main things I feel prospective mature students need information on. I almost put that link at the top of the thread - but hesitated because this board is for every type and level of learning and training, so I didn’t want to give an unbalanced first impression.

I know there’s now a separate thread here on the Welsh equivalent - so hope anyone for whom that’s relevant will take a look.

Hello! 50yo entering my last year of an OU business degree here, my first experience of education since 1988! This is such a great idea for a board.

Yey!! We have a new board!

I've just started studying Environmental Science with the Open University. I'm 46, and have been a teacher for many years. I've realised that if I want a change then now is the time to do it!