Single parent, working full time can I do a degree?

[littlebeebop]

Hello!

Im a single parent to a 10 year old. I work full time but considering going to uni to progress in my career. I haven't spoken to my work about this yet but just wondered how achievable this is? Am I setting myself up to fail?

Has anybody done this before? I want to get into teaching so will be a good 4 year long stint.

If you did do it, please tell me how you managed it all! I'd like to get onto a full time course other wise it will double the length of training.

Thanks!

Can I ask what you currently do at at the moment for work OP? I was going to recommend you look at apprenticeships which you can do through your current employer. There is funding for apprenticeships which means the government pay 95% of the cost and your employer picks up the remaining 5%. Your employer is required to allow you 20% of your contracted hours for study, and you continue to earn along the way.

THEN I saw that you're planning on going into teaching... and my conscience won't let me leave without saying "DON'T DO IT!!!!"

Best wishes from a soon-to-be-EX-primary-teacher.

@thirdistheonewiththehairychest

Can I ask what you currently do at at the moment for work OP? I was going to recommend you look at apprenticeships which you can do through your current employer. There is funding for apprenticeships which means the government pay 95% of the cost and your employer picks up the remaining 5%. Your employer is required to allow you 20% of your contracted hours for study, and you continue to earn along the way.

THEN I saw that you're planning on going into teaching... and my conscience won't let me leave without saying "DON'T DO IT!!!!"

Best wishes from a soon-to-be-EX-primary-teacher.

I'm a teaching assistant, I don't know if I have lost the plot but I feel this is my only way of progression really!

It's such a shame so many are leaving the profession now 😔

There are people on my open uni course doing it “full time” alongside a full time job - there is a lot of getting up at 4am to work on it before work and it seems hard going. But plenty of people are doing it.

I worked full time as a single parent and did my Education degree in the evenings at my local Uni. I then took a year out to do a PGCE. It's definitely doable. I just had one dc. I would've found it harder with more.

I left teaching recently because although I love it I just am not built for the stress. So do bear that it mind. Good luck 🤞

Not the same situation but thought I would share mine.

3 kids, aged 11, 9 and 4. Dh works away mon- Friday. I work 17.5 hours a week.

I am in my second year of uni. Last year was all online due to covid but we are in the classroom now. I won't lie, it's hard and would be harder still if I was working full time, but it would be doable. A few on my course are working full time

I work full time and am currently studying full time with the OU.

Its a juggle, especially of you add children in the mix, but if you are organised its fine. I went the OU route because its flexible, and I dont have to factor in commuting into the city to get to tutorials. I work shifts on a fixed but very strange pattern, so I can work around that. I am also a LP.

DEFINITELY do able, and for every miserable teacher there are happy ones too! At my previous school all were very happy, it's just on MN I see lot of people leaving the profession.

Anyway, I did a full time education degree as a single parent with a baby and we managed just fine. Fully recommend :)

@nutellingyou this completely resonates with me, the stress after 9 years is overwhelming, and am looking for a career change too.would you mind if I asked what you changed to?

@littlebeebop so sorry posted before I completed. Do you currently work in a school? It might be worth raising at a supervision to see if they would support you with training, many schools will as part of progression

[quote Wanderlustnearorfar]@littlebeebop so sorry posted before I completed. Do you currently work in a school? It might be worth raising at a supervision to see if they would support you with training, many schools will as part of progression[/quote]
I do work in a school. I've spoken with them now and they will support me, however the initial degree isn't as much school work. Once I get the degree and get onto my teacher training course they'll be able to do a lot more to help me ☺️

[quote Wanderlustnearorfar]@nutellingyou this completely resonates with me, the stress after 9 years is overwhelming, and am looking for a career change too.would you mind if I asked what you changed to?[/quote]
@Wanderlustnearorfar in working part time in a nursery. The money is rubbish but I love the children. I'll be looking for a totally different role when my kids are a bit older.
If I had the money I might train to be a play therapist or retrain to be something else. I do feel like teaching (well some awful SMT) has knocked my confidence fat too much and I'm not feeling very brave about getting back into it all. Even in my job now I feel like I'm not good enough. It's sad though, I really miss those days of having a whole class hanging on your every word and being excited about what you're teaching them. I wish you could bottle courage.

@TravellingSpoon

I work full time and am currently studying full time with the OU.

Its a juggle, especially of you add children in the mix, but if you are organised its fine. I went the OU route because its flexible, and I dont have to factor in commuting into the city to get to tutorials. I work shifts on a fixed but very strange pattern, so I can work around that. I am also a LP.

I'd love to study full time, as I can't face 6 years then an additional year teacher training. But the only downside is I'd have to continue working full time as I can't get maintenance loans with OU.

I just don't know how I'd fit in 30+ hours of study on top of a full time job.

@nutellingyou

Was it a full time degree or part time? I wish I could attend uni but the only ones that I could would mean part time and take twice as long to complete the course. Just a lot to decide at the moment

It was part time. I was working full time and did 1-2 evenings a week at Uni. I worked in a school so there was an element of that being part of the degree.