Do I need to look for work if doing a masters?

[MSc4me]

I am in a difficult situation.

My DC is in secondary school and will have no transport from September.

I was able to pay for a concessionary rider previously, as the estate we live on is in the catchment area for free transport but I live in the last house and my front door is just out of the catchment area. But now all of the kids from the estate are no longer at the school and therefore they’ve stopped the bus and I cannot get any transport so I need to take my DC myself.

My working hours were 8:30-5 and I had to hand my notice in because there was no way I can take my DC to school whilst staying in the same job (I’m a single parent with no help).
I managed to find a cleaning job that was meant to start in 2 weeks but they’ve just told me it’s no longer available unless I can do nights, which I can’t.
So I currently have no job.

I have been panicking and looking for work but cannot find anything!

I have always wanted to do a masters degree and I’m wondering if this would be the best option for me but I don’t know anyone whose done one before and so I can’t ask anyone in RL for advice.

My options are:

1.Doing one in person FT for 1 year - which probably wouldn’t be possible because of having to take my DC to school.

2.Doing one in person PT for 2 years - this is where I’m wondering if I need to look for work?
The course is 2 days a week so I would need to find a job 3 days a week which was my plan before the transport issue and I’m hoping I’ll still be able to do this.

I will absolutely be able to work seasonal times as I live next door to a caravan site and so I can make up my money during the school holidays but I’m worried about UC badgering me about finding work and having to go for meetings every week when I’m trying my best (I’ve never not worked before).

3.Or I could do an online masters degree from the open university. I do not know much about doing courses online and although I would prefer to do it in person I’m thinking this may be my best bet.

Would I need to look for work if I did an online degree at home?

I’ve seen another cleaning job but it’s ad hoc and could be 5 days a week or no work for a couple of weeks (obviously I’d want something more fixed in the future) but if I need to go to the job centre every week then I’m going to have to turn down a days work.
The degree is 25 hours a week but can be done at anytime.

Basically, I want to be in a position where I don’t need to look for work, so I can avoid going to the job centre.
(I would obviously still be looking for work for financial and MH reasons).

I’ve always wanted to do a masters and I’m wondering if this is the right time for me to do it. It would also benefit me in the long run by getting a better career.

If anyone has any advice or experience, especially single parents on UC I would be very grateful.
As you can imagine I am very stressed about my situation.
Thank you x

It's too late now but I'm assuming you explored options for before school and after school provision, secondary's usually open before registration for library use and are open for library and after school for any kids who need it, you would also have asked for a flexible working request to change your hours in your old job before you quit?

A masters will cost you money to do so unless you can finance it and your household bills I do t think that will be an option for you.

If you want to receive UC then you will need to be actively seeking work and proving that to the Job Centre.

I applied and was told it was over subscribed and had no places and so I applied for the next closest one and got in.

Then places came up in the first one but I didn’t move her and so I was seen as choosing where she went.

You posted the wrong section. You don't need a discretionary place - she qualifies for a statutory on under section 4:

Yes I asked for flexible working but they couldn’t do it and my hours + the commute means that before and after school clubs/library wouldn’t help.

I found a cleaning job that was closer and she’d be able to walk to my car and sit in it whilst waiting for me to finish and so although I was sad about leaving my job because I loved it and it was better money, I wasn’t as stressed because I had something to go too.

Yes I think you’re right that I can’t afford to do a masters right now.
I think I was just trying to turn my situation into something positive and have something to look forward to but I’ll probably have to wait until my DD has finished school so I can be more flexible.

Sorry wrong attachment!

@titchy but she’s not attending her nearest qualifying school which is why I can’t get it, as they say she can move schools.

And because she’s on FSM it extends to the 3 closest schools up to 6 miles and my front door is 6.1 miles (which is absolutely ridiculous).

Simply put you cannot afford to do a Masters right now OP. Maybe revisit the idea in a few years time.

It says nearest qualifying school WHEN APPLYING. She is at the nearest qualifying school when applying.

I suspect you've been appealing for the discretionary one based on FSM entitlement, not the statutory one.

I know what you are saying and these are the things I’ve argued until I’m blue in the face.

I also had extenuating circumstances and they still didn’t want to know.

I was not the only one going through similar at the same time and there were many posters going through the same thing.

It got to the point that if I didn’t apply for a concessionary pass then she’d get no transport at all and I’d have to take her myself which would make me going to work difficult and so I just paid for her to get a concessionary seat.

Obviously now I’m back to where I started from.

I know nothing about schools or transport so I'll leave that to better qualified MNers.

Wanting to do a masters is an admirable goal and please don't be disheartened or lose faith, it might just not be the right time, but education is something you can benefit from at any age. Don't give up on the idea of doing a masters or think that it's not right for you just because it's not right for you right now.

However, with the best will in the world and without meaning to sound harsh, it does sound like your current situation (in terms of work, benefits office, and transport) is very stressful and you have a lot on your plate right now coping with all of that. Adding a masters to all of that would add to that stress and put a lot more on your plate. This is just one random internet person's opinion so don't take it to heart, but it slightly comes across like you're panicking and maybe have latched onto the idea of doing a masters as a raft to get off the desert island you're on, without taking the time to sit down and research and think about the practical side.

This is not having a go at you at all, because I think you're doing brilliantly coping with all of this, but stuff like not having thought about how to pay for it, not having researched how studying would affect your UC (I found a lot of information in just a very quick Google search) -- doing a masters requires a fuckload of of concentration and discipline and I worry that if you've not been able to fully research what doing a masters entails now, that you might struggle with the amount of research involved in the actual course. I had to take six months out of my first masters and then complete the rest part-time because I was dealing with personal shit and just didn't have the headspace for the amount of concentration and mental effort required. And there's no shame in that. Postgrad study is extremely challenging. If you do go ahead with a a masters, set yourself up for success by waiting and not enrolling until your living situation is one that will support you to study and make it easy to study. Not one where you're having to fit studying in around financial/work/childcare worries.

If you do decide to do a masters, now or in the future, I'm always happy to chat and offer support either in threads here or via DM, and I'm sure there are other mature masters' students here too. I do wish you the absolute best because you're clearly really dedicated and hardworking and trying your hardest for your girl in a difficult situation.

Oh one final thing which might not be relevant now but might be for the future: a lot of universities do stuff to help online students develop strong peer networks and make sure they're not isolated. I don't know how other unis do things but King's have an application support person you're supposed to have a phone call with prior to applying and that's one of the questioned I asked. So if you do decide to an online masters at some point, do ask what provision there is for social/peer support.

I personally would recommend an online course from a physical university over OU if possible, because that way even if your course is fully online, you can still get involved in student life, visit the library, join student societies or student union events, etc.

Thank you so much for your kind words, they mean so much to me and brought tears to my eyes.

You are absolutely right that doing a masters right now is not the best time and I need to get sorted first so I can actually enjoy it.

Thank you so much x

This is a great idea too as I usually only see my work colleagues or my DD and I can imagine an online course without the social side would isolate me even more and so I will definitely look into this. Thank you!

Apologies if I’m being dense but I still don’t understand about the refusal to pay for home to school transport. Was it an on-time normal mainstream secondary application? In that case you would have listed your preferences, including, as you mention, the nearest school. When you mention you did not get allocated your top preference because it was oversubscribed, the LA would normally automatically allocate you one of the other schools you had listed in the on-time application and this would be the school you would be offered on secondary National Offer Day. Yet you mention you applied for the next closest one when you didn’t get offered your first preference. Why did you have to apply again? Was that because you didn’t list the number of schools you were permitted, you applied optimistically the first time around to schools you didn’t live near or because all of your preference schools filled with higher priority children and the LA was not able to offer your child a place at all on National Offer Day (very rare)?

Then, when did the LA came back to offer you the place at the nearer school; was it after you had accepted the alternative school place and after the start of the Autumn term, I.e. was your daughter already enrolled and attending lessons, or did they offer you the other place before the beginning of term, so she could have started with her peers in September?