Have finally worked out what I want to do and have found a course I could apply for....have some questions...

[electra]

Ok, for those of you studying I want to know how possible it is to fit the whole thing around children. I have a 7 year old and a 5 year old, who are both in school full time (7 year old on home based program too but will increase time in school in September when she moves up a year) and a 3 month old, who I would need care for.

The college I want to apply to has a creche service - what I want to know is, generally how accessible are these? Are there any concessions for parents who don't work?

I would be interested to hear other people's experiences.

They normally give priority to students and the fees are a little cheaper then they would normally be. You should be able to get a childcare grant to cover most of the costs. It is possible to do a course around children but it depends what the course is. An NHS course (nursing/radiography) have longer term dates, the nursing course dates are all over the place and may not coincide with school holidays, the other courses all have long holidays, it depends on the Uni when the lectures are, they sometimes have evening lectures so be aware of this.

What course are you hoping to do?

theres usually a long waiting list for places in the creche but there are many childminders around

it is possible i studied with 4 children although they were slightly older than yours and my youngest was at part time nursery.

as for concessions this again depends on whether your a single parent or with a partner on a low income

Yes, I'm a single parent and not currently working so I was wondering if I could get any help. Thanks for replies - I guess I don't want to waste any more time and I have found what I think is a reasonable route to a career that I would enjoy and would not take a huge amount of time. I hesitate to say what it is though because my mum reads MN and she will say it's 'stupid' as she does all of my ideas so I'm not going to tell her anything about it!

You should go for it. Life's to short to wonder about things. There's alot of support out there, you want to make your life better for you and your children, there's nothing wrong with this. It's not stupid at all.

Good luck!

any education is great its never stupid even if you do it and deceide not to go that exact route it can open doors.

If a single parent and its at a college i think you will more than likely get most of it free as for childcare again you may have to go to a childminder but i think you should only pay a very small amount there as you will get help contact the college and go to meet them

must say im very curious as to the course

Thanks for your help - it is not anything dodgy kentmumtj, honestly!

It's my mum's reaction - I know it will be negative so I'm not going to tell anyone about it.

I work at a college and we have what is called a Learner Support Fund at ours for people just like you. You can use it for childcare (as long as the nursery/childminder is registered), materials for your course, travel to college, equipment/books etc. When you apply do ask for the forms as every college is given money that they are required to spend this way! It is usually means tested so depending on what income/benefits you receive depends on what help is available to you.

Thanks bluebump