Single mum studying postgraduate

[Sillysha31]

Hi all

So I’ve decided I want to go back to university to do a postgraduate course which I wanted to do straight after my degree but I had my daughter and my life went on pause a little bit. Since then I have set up a fairly okay life for me and her, house, car, job, etc. However, I am worried about how finances work as a single mum being a mature student, i know I can get a student loan but will I get help from UC? (I already have help from them with rent and childcare). I am just worried that I will completely up route my life and then lose my house and everything. I do plan on getting a job on weekends too so I can still help pay for things. I have been passionate about this for years and am so ready to do this qualification but I am TERRIFIED.

How did you cope with studying with a little one? My daughter is only 18 months so i know it’ll be hard but I just would like some help in how hard it will be.

I don’t really have anyone to talk to about this so any kind words would be much appreciated 😊

thank you❤️

The DWP treats some of the loan as part of your income for UC purposes.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/universal-credit-and-students

"Postgraduate Master’s Loans in England and Wales include maintenance and tuition fees in one payment. When working out your Universal Credit, 30% of the loan is taken into account as student income. The rest is ignored."

Will the postgraduate course improve your earning potential or open doors that are currently closed? Because unless it's vocational, most don't and it would be a shame to put yourself under financial pressure if it's not going to benefit you. Admirable as I think your goal is.

What's your plan for afterwards? There might be other ways to get there.

Thank you for your reply!

I am going to be doing a PGCE in primary education to become a teacher. I know a lot of people don’t like this career but I’m so passionate about doing it and it will change me and my daughter life if I get this qualification! It could offer a lot more routes to progress and it would be something I enjoy!

thank you for this info! I’ll look through it all now x

Oh well that's definitely vocational then! Primary teaching can be tough but also wonderful. I can understand why you want to pursue it.

The PGCE year is demanding with the placements and assignments, I'm not sure you'd be able to work at weekends as well. One of the things that already makes the PGCE so difficult is that you're effectively working full time plus trying to do your coursework on top for most of it.

Do you have a place yet or are you forward planning?

It might be worth reporting your thread to Mumsnet and asking them to edit the title to say "primary PGCE" instead of "postgraduate" - you might get more traffic from people with specific firsthand experience. I think it would be more useful for you to hear from people who've done a PGCE because it's quite different to other types of postgraduate qualifications.

I THINK (pls check!) that the PGCE is treated the same as UG finance for UC purposes, so you should get maintenance (UC will take some/most), but will retain your entitlement to the other UC elements like child, housing.

It's the Masters loan which has 30% regarded as income so very different.

I currently work in a sixth form college doing recruitment and have absolutely loved working with students! I always wanted to work in education but I have found such a passion for working with the younger years.

I have heard that it is very demanding and it is one of the things that makes me concerned with having a young daughter as well, I want to give her everything I can and in this will set us on the right track for the future. I understand working on the weekends would definitely be demanding, I was hoping to find a job that’s 0 hour contract so I can move shifts around a bit more over the breaks and things like that. Just want to work as hard as I can this year without letting my daughter miss out on too much.

thank you for the info regarding finances, I will definitely look into this!