Best thing to study aged 30 something?

[Crystalnightsky]

hey guys!

I’m 34 and left school with just GCSEs. Just passes, one b and one a star.

tbh I was very, extremely lazy when I was younger and couldn’t be bothered studying. after high school just worked minimum wage jobs. Cleaning etc

I really want a better salary and a career change. To maybe go back to school and get a higher education etc

I just can’t pick what to study. Or maybe what roles I can work my way up to.

i feel too old.

any ideas?

what would you recommend at this age?

What fields are you interested in, or would you like to avoid?
E.g. Healthcare? Business? Accounting? Marketing?
Would you enjoy working with children or would you hate that?
What do you do currently?
What would represent a good salary to you? 40k? 100k?

With the level of detail you've provided atm it's really hard to advise.

Sometimes it can be difficult to decide the way forward, when you’re considering future careers. You mention you’re interested in returning to education, would you consider studying an access course? This will give you a good foundation of study skills and the qualifications to be able to access some higher education courses. Local colleges offer these courses.

Hi! :) You actually don't need A-Levels to start a degree as an adult! Lots of universities offer degrees with a foundation year, which is an extra first year that covers study skills and the basics of the subject, and they look at your GCSEs, work history and motivation instead.

On what to study, I'd work backwards from the jobs you actually enjoy doing. A few that suit people coming from customer-facing work: business management (wide range of roles), accounting and finance (clear progression), healthcare management, or project management. If you are more into organising things and stuff at work, project or supply chain management can be a good fit.

If money is the worry: if you haven't studied at degree level before, student finance usually covers the fees, including the foundation year, and there's a Maintenance Loan for living costs. You repay only once you earn over the threshold.

(For transparency: I work in admissions at Omega Partners, a free admissions support service for adults going to university. 🤗 Happy to answer anything here, no need to contact us.)

There's not really enough detail there OP!

What are you good at (detail orientated, big picture, organising, people skills etc)

More importantly, what do you want to end up doing?

Like a pp said, work back from that.