How much time is involved at a brick uni - social work in particular

[Icantthinkofagoodusername]

As above really -

How many hours are you there each week? 5 days? Can you get away with not going in every day if your tutor/lecturer (I don't know which is the correct term!) knows you have DC?

Does the time commitment increase with each year? I know with social work you go on placement and for scotland this looks like it doesn't happen until the end of second year and then a lot through third and fourth year. Any help gratefully received.

Thanks

I don't know this course, but at university you have to attend contact hours, whenever they are.

It's easy to skip lectures, and even larger seminars. But why would anyone want to? They are important.

You can expect there will be teaching every day, any time from 9ish through to 6ish (because they have to fit in every course, and parents can be on any/every one).

If you are not yet able to arrange suitable childcare so you can do a full time course, either wait or seek a part time one which is manageable.

Thanks scaevola.

Yes I really wouldn't want to miss out on any lectures but just want a rough idea for future planning. I can't do this course PT and have already done some OU modules but it's not stimulating enough and it feels like a way off to reach my end goal. Going to a brick uni now FT will realise my plans quicker.

Is it silly to think that there is never a 'good' time to go to uni when you have DC? In a few years' time they'll have extracurricular clubs etc and it'll be as much a hassle then as it will be now.

Can anyone else help?

It's like having a FT job, with overtime and some weekends, especially when on placement. It's tough, but so so worth it! If you can get childcare together, go for it.

Bump. Any other views?

Social work really isn't a great job if you have children and want to see them! The hours are long (lots of evenings) and the stress levels now are horrendous. It can be done though, I did it with 4 dcs and loved every min of being at uni it was fantastic. But you do have to make sacrifices and spending time with your family is one of them, just as it is with lots of vocational courses. My friend stopped her training as a midwife as she felt she wasn't spending enough time with her dcs.

You are right there never is a good time although before dcs prob is but I didn't do it that way myself.

Which area of social work do you want to go into I am assuming you have social care experience already.

I found full time wasn't actually full time. Some days I would be in most of the day, other days just an hour and the rest study time. Its harder when you do placements though as its full time every day. There were lots of parents with young dc on my course.
You do need to attend all the lectures. But its worth it. Personally I have found sw as a job fits in very well with having a young family.

Think it depends which area of sw you want to go into and where you live. I am a CP sw in a large city and our caseloads are enormous. I have also worked on an adoption team were there were a lot of evening visits so a lot depends on your area of interest. We also had study days and were in about 3 days a week and placements were full time hours but they were flexible as I had children.

When I posted this I thought I was in with a chance of a late acceptance onto an UG course. Now turns out they are full so I'm going back to my original plan of OU degree then PG in social work. I don't have any social care experience so the longer route allows me some time to build up voluntary experience. I don't know what area I'd like to go in to but I'm hoping that volunteer work and the actual course will confirm this for me.

By the time I am applying for PG the kids will be 7 and 9. It'll be hard no matter when I go for it but thanks to your posts I know to expect it'll be pretty much full time while studying.

Thanks everyone

Good luck with your UG studies. My friend did her sw studies with the OU and loved it so doing the MA with them afterwards may work out for you too. Although after volunteering you may decide sw isn't for you at all! So these 3 years may be even better spent than you ever thought.