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Mature study and retraining

Talk to other Mumsnetters who are considering a career change or are mature students.

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Original poster

How difficult did you find uni as a mature student?

31 replies

BeachTree · 19/08/2022 21:17

I'm considering studying for a part time degree as I have no option but to continue working full time. I'm somewhat worried about how difficult it will be as I have been out of education for around 20 years. I don't find it easy to read, and I am worried generally about keeping up and trying to retain information etc as it does not get any easier with age. Thanks

OP posts:

lavendermouse · 19/08/2022 21:26

I am currently enrolled at the open university for my degree (part time also) and I'm finding its quite good as it's all online and I can fit it around my life and commitments.

ihatebojo · 19/08/2022 21:27

I did my first degree with the OU and loved it. Have done some smaller courses with them since and am considering a PhD for a couple of years time.

FinallyHere · 19/08/2022 21:31

Mature students usually do really, really well. They tend to focus in the time they do have available, not waste any time and work out strategies for keeping on top of the work.

May also spend much less time getting wasted and nursing broken hearts or lost in lurve than the average student.

I wish you all the very best. What will you be reading? Are there any study skills courses you could take meanwhile ?

itsjustnotok · 19/08/2022 21:34

I am 41 and have been part time studying with the Open University. I am about to start my 5th year and I’ve surprised myself. I have found elements challenging but overall I’ve found the support to be good and so far have passed my modules with a distinction. Being mature can help tbh.

BuwchGochGota · 19/08/2022 21:35

I went back to university to do a part time masters when I was 40. I worked 30hrs as well. The first term was tough and there were a few points where I thought I'd made completely the wrong decision. But it got easier and I graduated with a distinction and one of the highest marks amongst my cohort for my dissertation.

If you want to do it go for it.

DogsAndGin · 19/08/2022 21:35

I did my teacher training as a mature student and found writing essays/assignments far easier than when I was 18!

Bangarang · 19/08/2022 21:38

I adored it. I was so into what I was learning, and had got most of the partying out of my system. I routinely hid from another mature student who was leeching off others work, because I liked to spend my free time studying more (and she would just sit there distracting me). Was amazing. I'd go back if I could.

Original poster

BeachTree · 21/08/2022 20:08

Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply. Has anyone found it more difficult to learn in general being a little bit older? I'm worried that my brain is too rusty

OP posts:

purple12345678 · 21/08/2022 20:14

Did Masters as an adult. It was very hard and very intense. Mind you I also didn't know until 70% of the way through the course that I was dyslexic either. Postgrad is much harder than expected.

YellowPlumbob · 21/08/2022 20:17

Nah.

I went to college first, aged 31, as a lone parent to 3 (youngest was 1 and didn’t sleep more than 2-3 hours at a time) and did Access Science. Then UG at a demanding Uni, followed by a Masters.

The pandemic was the only time I found it impossible - but then again, so did the 20 year olds without kids at home!

TooHot2022 · 21/08/2022 20:24

I've done 2/3 of an undergraduate degree - a different subject from my first one - purely for interest/ enjoyment.
I LOVE it!
Am so much more organised than I was first time round and not distracted by the being away from home/ learning to be independent/ having sex

I found that getting organised at the beginning of term was the secret to success - working out what was happening each week, planning in essay deadlines, downloading reading to pdf and sending it to my phone/ iPad, so that whenever I had spare time I could be using it!

Good luck!

niidea · 23/08/2022 09:26

I think if it's something you really want, you'll find a way to do it. Make the most of all the support services that the university offers as well, and don't be afraid to talk to lecturers if you feel like you're struggling.

And if you need help with academic skills (whether it's reading, writing/essay composition, etc.), make the most of the uni services available to you. All universities should have some form of accessibility support and general student support services. e.g. Maybe listening to texts works better than reading for you? Or perhaps it'd be easier to read in a different colour/text combination?

Stressofherregard · 23/08/2022 09:29

I started my first degree at aged 61. About to start year 5 of 6. As with many on here I am with OU. They give lots o

Stressofherregard · 23/08/2022 09:31

of support and there are plenty of guides to the best ways of studying. I am really enjoying it. You should go for it. Good Luck

ImBoilingJackie · 23/08/2022 09:37

Did an undergraduate degree in my very late 30s, and took a year our to have a child.
Returned to finish that, and then went straight on to do a Master's.
I found the very first year hard as the way essays were required to written were very different from my school experiences, and of course, there were assignments to do. Once I got the hang of it, it was fine and I really enjoyed the experience. Made some good friends too.

There's generally good student support for those who need help with dyslexia (or at least, was when I was studying) and problems with reading comprehension.

trevthecat · 23/08/2022 09:41

I am about to go into my 3rd year. I work part time, 3 kids, youngest is just starting primary this time. Dh works away during the week, just to give you a picture of our set up. I have loved it. Really enjoyed the course and found the work manageable. It is a lot of work outside the classroom but it's do able

quiteathome · 24/08/2022 13:01

I think I was more focussed and made the most of all of my scraps of time.

Overall it wasn't the degree that was hard it was probably the impact of the pandemic and the additional challenges of that.

I am very glad that I did it- and I think mature students just get on with it.

ODFOx · 24/08/2022 13:07

I have never been a mature student but from the other side it seems to me that the older students with competing responsibilities are generally much better at allocating time and getting the job done. Fir some of the younger cohort their studies expend to fill the available time and are less thorough and efficient overall.
Certainly In my seminar and tutor groups the mature students all seem to be on top of the reading and able to participate fully, whereas if someone isn't up to date it is invariably one of the younger students.

Edmontine · 28/09/2022 11:30

I’d say institutional admin and current rhetoric are more challenging for returning students than any academic work.

How younger people talk is an education in itself - and something I needed to get to grips with really quickly.

MrsKeats · 28/09/2022 11:40

I didn't; I loved it.

nomilk1sugar · 30/09/2022 09:55

i think one factor is the level of the study. i did a masters in my early 50s. it was so much more intense than undergraduate. hindsight is a wonderful thing and perhaps i should have expected that but i don't remember anyone mentioning the intensity when i was asking about the course.

Edmontine · 30/09/2022 10:34

My middle aged MA certainly was the most intense academic experience I’ve ever had - but I loved every second of it (even the crying, panicking parts) because I loved the subject. Unlike my first degree which I did because I felt I ought …

HardLanding · 30/09/2022 11:08

It’s not the studying I found hard (I did a STEM degree at an RG Uni) - the content was varied, interesting and of course some concepts I found difficult, but the actually studying part was fine.

Its all the other stuff around it! Finding decent, reliable childcare, getting us all up and out the door, the commute (2 buses across the City, squashed in like sardines during rush hours), finding the energy to make myself dinner (I lived off cereal/toast/pasta) as DCs were fed at wrap around, and then when DD1 went to secondary I had to cook properly of an evening as she wasn’t in childcare any more. Cleaning, tidying, laundry. Catching up when one of them had been off sick.

Admittedly I was a single parent and they were 10/8/2 when I started. I hired a cleaner who also changed our bedding fortnightly. Game changer.

Edmontine · 30/09/2022 11:27

I bet your children are incredibly proud of you, HardLanding! (I was when my DM took a degree while I was an undergraduate.)

BlauVogel · 31/12/2022 03:30

Hats off to you. Well done!

i did an online masters in my early 30s (when i didn’t ve kids) and now halfway through another Masters at mid 40s. Now with 2 kids aged 10, 13 and a full time job, i am finding it more challenging to find the motivation to study. Also my capacity of absorbing new things is perhaps slightly less now.

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