Is there a specific Mature Study & Retraining board?

[Edmontine]

I know there have been mature student threads. But I feel I’ve read countless, tentative Am I too old to - threads, with each OP believing they’re the first person ever to consider a degree or postgrad at 30 / 40 / 50 onwards - and almost talking themselves out of the idea before they’ve even posted.

It would be helpful to have a dedicated space - with a note at the top assuring people that they’re not freaks and would be welcomed by places of learning.

(If such a board already exists and I’ve failed to find it, consider me suitably embarrassed.)

[quote onlymyselftoanswerto1]@beefcurry I'd go with ulster - the repayments later on will be tiny unless you'll be a high earner, I worked in the charity sector for a while after I graduated and think I only ever paid around £7 a month back lol. Ulster also has really good library access which I'd recommend. Which campus is it on? Good luck with whatever you decide 😊[/quote]
It's Jordanstown then moving to Belfast for semester 2. The degree has excellent student satisfaction and employment rates so I'm definitely going to stick with it.

Jordanstown is a really nice campus and loads of parking which is always a bonus - I'm at queens where there is zero parking and it's a nightmare as I live an hour out and the public transport around here is shocking so I've no real option other than to drive.

Well done for the offers on both tho - scholarships aren't easy to come by but if you'll be better off in the long run with the loan and maintenance grant that'll be the better option for you for sure - the social side of it is good too - loads of coffee drinking and people to bounce your ideas and worries off!

@Edmontine

Do you have any particular talents you’ve never had the chance to develop?

Would you rather work with ideas and concepts, or with tangible things or people?

Indoors or outdoors? (I have no idea if the OU offers degrees in Horticulture, Landscape Gardening or Bee Keeping.) How about Interior Design or Weaving?)

Consider - do you want to focus on the past, present or future? Art History? Assyriology? Crypto-currencies, Urban Planning? AI, Interplanetary Exploration?

None! By that I don’t mean to sound pitying or down on myself but I honestly can’t think of any talents that I have. I’d definitely focus on the present or the future though, not the past. I’m treading cautiously because of my first university experience which I now look back on as money down the drain

I’d love to join in and defo would be happy to see a mature students board.

My story is that I was made redundant due to covid last year, which actually was good for me as I hated the company and planned on resigning and going freelance. Thankfully the payout kept me going for a while so I could afford not to work and I decided to take the plunge and go into study.

I’ve always wanted to be a therapist but always felt unreachable as I’m not particularly smart/confident and no one in my family has a “profession” so to speak so it was never in my radar to go to university.

I’m late 30’s with 2 DC so was a bit daunting to start an access course, it was SO full on but it felt more flexible than working hours, and I loved the subjects so much that it felt easy, I do feel prepared for uni in things such as referencing, researching etc.

I’m now enrolled to study psychology but I am expecting dc3 in a few months time! I’m determined to continue and try and juggle study with a newborn with some breaks here and there. Due to My age and the length of time it’ll take to become a qualified therapist, I don’t feel I can take a year out and tbh I am so excited to continue I don’t want to. I’m just a bit anxious about the reality of managing it all.

Be nice to have a mature students community.

I had my initial assessments yesterday to see if I can start the gcse courses. Absolute disaster because of my ASD/sound sensitivity. My satnav messed up and I ended up going the wrong way and instead of having a good 25 mins before my appointment it said I would have 8 minutes. I HATE being late for anything and so I was starting to panic that I would be late (traffic was terrible). Once I got to the car park I sat and cried in my car for a few minutes, felt totally overwhelmed and then went in 4 minutes before my appointment.

The assessments themselves shouldn't have been too difficult for me but I found it hard to focus because the staff in the room kept chatting about stuff. About 90 minutes in I was starting the final assessment, I had to write a couple of essays, first was fine the second my mind went blank halfway through because I was so focused on the staff who were discussing my circumstances, my qualifications (that are missing etc), what I wanted to study, I was so embarrassed. There were lots of other people in the room as well which created so much noise with them coming and going. They were also doing interviews in the next room which I kept hearing snippets of which also distracted me. During my maths assessment I was nearly crying trying to figure out the mode of a group of numbers because all of them were different, it was only when everyone was quiet for a few minutes and I could focus properly again that I actually saw that there was in fact 2 identical numbers.

I seriously don't think I can do this now, I went in feeling okay and able to do it and left feeling like a total failure for falling apart over noise. I mean I couldn't even figure out where to put a colon in a sentence for 5 minutes because my brain was so frazzled!

Not sure if it's already been mentioned upthread, but you can access FREE level 3 courses under the government retraining scheme. For anyone who doesn't already have an A-level education, you can get up to A level or diploma grade now free of charge.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/find-a-free-level-3-qualification/list-of-colleges-and-training-providers-able-to-offer-free-places-for-level-3-qualifications

AzPie I’m sorry you had such a nightmare experience. I don’t really understand the set-up of the assessments - but clearly you shouldn’t have had to be listening to chatting staff while you were doing them.

Possibly someone else here has some knowledge or experience regarding this?

Hello could I join in please? I did start a thread somewhere else but not much in the way of response.
I'm 41 and would love to do a degree. I've always wanted to. I have GCSE's. A btec I got straight from school. Access to health and social care wich I got ten years ago. I got a place to study midwifery via the reserve list but my personal circumstances at the time meant I couldn't take it and was devestated. Five years ago I looked into it again to discover the equivalent GCSE English and maths included in the course were no longer valid and would also have to do GCSE science as I got a D - was told at the time science was covered in the course. So I'm not sure whether to try doing another access course or try a different option because midwifery is so competitive and hard to get into.

I have four children and am a self employed cleaner - as much as I'd love to go to an actual uni I don't know if it's be possible. I'd love to hear of your experiences of the OU.

Or do I scrap the idea and do some free courses for fun on future learn.

Every few years I keep coming back to the idea of it. I can't keep putting it off I'm not getting any younger🤣

personal circumstances at the time meant I couldn't take it and was devastated

Ha! Been there - too many times.

You’re very welcome here, Positivelysober, and I hope there are people around who can offer specific advice.

May I ask why midwifery? I mean, is it the one thing you truly want to do - or are you in any sense motivated now by wanting to knock down the barriers that have been put up?

And no - free courses for fun are free courses for fun - no one who wants a degree or professional qualification should be sidetracked . (Though Futurelearn, etc can be a useful jumping off point.) But you know this!

Have you had any input from a careers adviser? You sound tremendously well organised - so there probably is a pathway from where you are now, to where you want to be.

@AzPie sorry you had such a horrible experience, I was there with you. You have probably done better than you thought, breathe now that you’ve done it. When do you get the results?

I had a nightmare trying to do maths and gcse assessment, I found a training centre local to me and whilst I was completing the info I could here staff in the next room swearing about how they don’t know when the courses started and the lack of support from head office. When I finished the assessment I asked them for an honest indication of course start dates and they could confirm. So I basically wasted my time.

In the end I started my access course without gcse/functional skills on the promise I’d find a course by the time I completed the course but I never found one, but managed to get into uni by doing their own maths/English assessment. But I will have to complete maths gcse at some stage.

Gosh my spelling/grammar is horrendous! I hope it makes sense!

I guess I'm worried about failing and not being good enough because it's so popular. When I applied last time they had 500 applications for 30 places. Also with having the four children, I do need to be working, I don't think I could juggle it, so something I can do online at home seems to be the most practical option really . I'm trying not to let my heart rule my my head wich is what usually happens.
No I haven't spoken to anyone - and definitely not organised 🤣 more muddling along really. Thanks for the advice.

Okay …

worried about failing and not being good enough because it's so popular Given the acceptance statistics you quote, there must be masses of people who don’t get in - not because they’re not good enough, simply because of limited capacity.

So, it might be an idea to have an alternative plan. Not a lesser option, a different one. Or two. This is where the careers adviser would be useful. I don’t know the titles of all the professional occupations that surround nursing and midwifery - but I’m certain there must be several - and some of them might offer you just as much job satisfaction. Isn’t it worth investigating?

Rather than ‘letting your heart rule your head’, you can use your head to find a way to satisfy your heart … (#DoasIsaynotasIdo …)

Ok yes that is a very good point you've made there, I agree.

I've been looking at maternity support worker and what I'd need to qualify for that, wich seems a bit more doable . 🙂

Looking for related careers to midwifery here:

nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/midwife I noticed the skills assessment thingummy just below. I can never resist those …

Thank you 🙂

@Edmontine - It was very noisy, to me anyway but I just think if it's an assessment then surely it should be as quiet/calm as possible.

@supamum3 - They didn't say when I would receive the results, just that it would be either by phone or email.

I've withdrawn from the courses for now, long story short I may have to home ed DD due to her college completely freaking out and backing off when they saw just how traumatised she is from secondary school. I'm hoping her EHCP caseworker can sort something but it's not looking good. I'm not going to be able to go off to college and concentrate on the courses whilst battling yet again for DD's education whilst also possibly home educating her whilst scrambling around for another setting

Ooh this thread is so helpful! I want to throw out a question to see if anyone has been in my position and what they did about it. I’m desperate to do a masters and possibly even more. I did a BA around 20 years ago, and have a few PGdips, but I’ve worked for myself remotely for the past ten years and have no way of obtaining a reference - I’ve never met any of my clients and never worked more than a few hours a week for any of them!
What are my options? Start with more basic courses? Get a job with the aim of obtaining references? Write a desperate letter to the university? Any advice appreciated!
@Edmontine this is such a great thread, I hope a board comes out of it!

Thanks, Rhoda!

As to your problem - assuming you want to pursue an academic qualification in the area of your current work - do you have evidence of the work you have done over perhaps the last five years?

Also - would you be able to place yourself in a hierarchy of your occupation? Emerging, established, higher? Is there someone better established, more recognised - with whom you could have a searching conversation; to the extent that they would be able to vouch for your level of talent / commitment / expertise?

In your position I would first contact the most suitable person at your preferred institutions and ask them exactly what they would need from you (as a non-standard applicant). Then you can work out a realistic timeframe for acquiring the relevant information.

But perhaps you’re interested in something entirely unrelated to your present life?

@Edmontine great advice. I’ve just emailed the relevant course leader to ask. I think I’m honestly hoping I can squeeze in with no reference but obviously I’m going to have to put some welly into it.
I definitely want to do something completely unrelated, I’m an established but jaded marketing professional I suppose, but I’ve completely lost my passion (although I can evidence what I’ve been doing) and I want to use my writing skills to explore more interesting realms! I struggle to think of appropriate mentors but you’ve inspired me to see if I can track someone down through LinkedIn.
And it’s not even lunchtime! What a start to the week.

👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽

I want to use my writing skills to explore more interesting realms

Okay, this is the crux of the matter. They’ll want to be able to assess your suitability for, presumably, a writing course? Creative? For performance? Narrative non-fiction?

Have you as yet done anything in your preferred area? What were your diplomas in? Otherwise … online courses? Submissions to magazines, journals, competitions? Are you currently working on anything that you could share with prospective institutions. (This is one of the things I did.)

Oh, also - do you have a clear idea of a range of work you admire, a direction you want to follow, a question you want to solve? Are you - how to put this - aware of the trends and philosophies that currently prevail in your subject? Have you gutted every possible university’s relevant research websites? And joined their mailing lists? The wonderful thing about the postgrad arena is how interconnected everything is revealed to be - you need to be speaking the same language as your prospective peers. (Which I suppose comes naturally to a marketing professional!)

AzPie - apologies, I had intended to respond at once.

I can see you have a number of hurdles to scramble over at the moment. My first thought was that you and your daughter might find a way of studying side by by side - making a virtue out of a crisis.

But I hope others here can offer more focussed support.

I have a huge amount of such material in creative writing! I’m trying to decide between that (which is a passion) and sociology/anthropology, which I’m really interested in and could be more useful career wise. But although I have lots of ideas for projects I’d like to undertake, I don’t have the deep awareness of trends in those fields that you’re talking about. I need to give this a lot more thought!

You don’t need a ‘deep’ awareness for MA level, just some! At PhD level you make your own weather - but depressingly, funding goes to projects that tap into the zeitgeist. (I’ve heard discussion of this at more than one research level academic conference.)

In sociology / anthropology you almost certainly are already engaged in current issues.

But you can combine the two, surely? Quite a lot of what I’m reading at the moment is book length essays on environmental issues. And much of the debate on research websites is couched in terms of the sustainability of current methods of enquiry … Seriously - any research proud university has reams of this stuff. Dive in!