Candyfloss & Dreams

Tag: mature student

  • Was Getting a Degree Worth it?

    Was Getting a Degree Worth it?

    Getting a degree as a mature student and full time working parent has been a challenge, but has it been worth it? Adam first returned to University back in 2017 where he studied an Access course at our local college. The course was one years intensive study where he was in lessons around four days a week. He had to do an independent personal project and learn new skills that he hadn’t done before including referencing, research and data collection. It was a completely new experience for him after over ten years outside of education. I think there were many moments of hardship and stress where Adam asked himself is getting a degree worth it?

    The Cost of Getting A Degree

    It’s expensive. There’s no way around it. Getting a university education is not cheap. However, student finance is an option and I believe you get four full time years student finance available to you. This can be used with a traditional university, a college offering foundation degrees and other institutes of Higher Education such as The Open University. In the UK the first place to apply is through the student finance website and repayment of student loans happens once you’ve finished your degree and are in paid work above a certain threshold. In other countries this works differently and some people choose to refinance their student loans. If this is applicable to you, you can discover more here.

    Why Do Mature Students Return to Education

    I think there are many reasons why people return to education. For Adam, he had been working in his job for a good few years and was just going nowhere. There was no room for progression and he was so desperately unhappy and feeling unfufilled. He felt he wasn’t living up to his own potential and wanted a career for himself. We wanted to expand our family and move home eventually and it just was feeling like it was impossible. I feel like I’m finally doing something I love being able to work from home and write for a living and Adam wanted something for himself. I remember our conversation about studying and we got an Open University prospectus as Adam knew he would have to continue working through any form of study.

    However, after seeing a friend finish an access course and get a place at University, we talked about him actually going to a place of study. It all happened pretty quickly after that as he applied in the July and was accepted to start in September. His chosen study path was Social Sciences and he had to redo his Maths GCSE alongside college. He applied for the course fee through student finance and reduced his hours at work slightly so they wouldn’t interfere with college. It was a pretty hard year financially as during college we didn’t get any financial help, aside from the fees paid, and he had a paycut from work.

    I think wanting to change career paths or enable some form of career progression is probably one of the main driving forces when deciding to return to education but sometimes it can just be something to do, having a passion for a subject and wanting to learn more or potentially something for the CV after a career break, or starting a family. For Adam, it was very much about having the qualifications to build a successful, interesting and exciting career, although he didn’t know what he wanted to do, or even full study at University.

    Doing an Access to HE course is an excellent pathway for Students that enjoy Classroom Based Learning

    Adam felt going into a classroom would be much easier for him rather than completely independent study as it offered some routine and structure. He had a really successful and enjoyable year on his Access to HE course in Social Sciences anr originally applied for a degree in Criminology to five Universities. A couple were local and some were a little further affield. He got conditional offers from each University and eventually decided to study at Winchester as it was the shortest, and easiest, commute via public transport.

    Being a Mature Student Might not be the ‘Typical’ University Experience

    Adam isn’t a big drinker, partygoer and is pretty introverted as a person so he wasn’t really interested in the social experience University can offer younger students flying the nest and striking out on their own for, probably, the first time. Adam was in his mid-twenties, worked full time, was learning to drive and became a dad during his first semester of University. His plan was to study, come home, sleep when he could and do it all again. The extra financial help really helped us top up his wages but Adam felt a lot of stress and a lot of pressure. Finally passing his driving test in his first year really made a difference for the rest of his University experience, as did when our Son slept through the night in his bed eventually. Despite all of this Adam had a positive experience whilst studying his undergraduate degree. He doesn’t feel like he missed out on anything living off campus and away from busy student social occassions. However, he wouldnt particularly recommend starting a family, starting University and changing jobs all in one month to be the way forward as it was a lot.

    Has Getting a Degree Been Worth It?

    Personally, I think yes. Adam achieved second class honours: upper division (a 2:1 BA degree) despite a lot of obstacles including studying through homeschooling and a global pandemic. It has not been easy but despite everything he did really, really well. Right now, it’s hard to say in terms of a career because he has decided to stay on at his current place of work whilst finishing his Masters post graduate degree. His degree in Philosophy, Religion and Ethics has built an excellent foundation for his chosen Masters programme in Reconcilliation and Peacebuilding. His hope is that this will allow for an exciting graduate career, a chance to relocate as a family and just build something to be proud of; giving us the opportunity to have a happy and fufilling family life. I know that realistically we are looking at a good few years of him building a career, working long hours but hopefully, the time we can spend together as a family, holidays we can have will make it all worth it. I think, as well, having a personal sense of achievement, especially after not doing so well at school, really helps make it all feel worth it in the long run.

    pen on open book next to stack of books. pin image for blog post is getting a degree worth it for a mature student.
  • Post Grad Study as a Full Time Working Dad

    Post Grad Study as a Full Time Working Dad

    Adam starts his Post Graduate Masters course this week and I am, of course, very proud of everything he’s done in the last few years. It all started back in 2017 when he applied for a full time access course in Humanities and Social Science to enable him to go to University. I wanted to write more about how his degree went, how he acheived a 2:1 degree whilst working full time, becoming a new dad, learning to drive and without leaving school with hardly any GCSE’s. I’m incredibly proud of how he’s managed to get a degree during a global pandemic too.

    Studying a degree as a mature student: Adam’s Experience

    My partner Adam will be the first to admit school was not his strong point and despite trying, his teachers didn’t have a lot of faith in him. Going back to college to study full time alongside working a full time job and then finding out we were pregnant with Felix was a very busy time. However he did really well, finished his course in the first year and was able to apply to a local University. Oh, he was also learning to drive during this and his first year of University too. It’s safe to say we were pretty busy.

    The First and Second Year of an Undergraduate Degree

    He originally applied for a degree in Criminology but changed within the first week to a degree in Philosophy, Religion and Ethics. Honestly, I always thought a philosophy degree would suit Adam better because he loves listening to debate, he enjoys hearing peoples reasoning for those big questions and he did pretty well in his first year getting an overall 2:1 for his first year despite everything going on. Felix was born in a complicated way back in 2018, just weeks after he started the first semester, and he was having to commute by train which was stressful alongside starting a new job where he worked all through the night instead of just late evenings. He was very tired trying to be a new dad, study, work and learn to drive all in one go but he did it, and he did really well, particularly in that first year.

    His second year started pretty smoothy back in 2019. Semester one was pretty laid back as we had made some family changes – we moved our eldest to a local school as I was having a hard time with the walk to and from post-c-section and Adam was knackered a lot of the time from work. However, he could drive and we had a family car which did really help make things a bit easier as Adam no longer had to leave hours before his lecture which allowed him a little more sleep. Then in early 2020 everything changed thanks to the covid19 pandemic and he was met with offers of extensions, some online lectures and tutorials. He was put on furlough from his hospitality job and finally had the time to study but, we also had to homeschool and its safe to say it was an equally challenging time. Living in a small flat, all of us in one room trying to work and study with the distraction of a two-year-old running about and not being allowed outside much – as well as not having a garden – meant us feeling a lot of frustration, pressure and very much on top of each other. It was hard.

    Studying a degree during a pandemic hasn’t been easy but Adam is graduating officially next month

    Things of course were a bit different in September, the first semester of his third year. Our eldest was back at school and Adam had a selection of lectures online at home and in person, but in smaller groups. He was still furloughed so his work wasn’t really impacting his study but I feel this weird time and not having the structure of the first year and most of his second year really affected his learning. Third years are tough, with a big dissertation to write and having to rely on your own independent learning for most of it meant having to be very proactive and Adam just wasn’t in that frame of mind. However, he managed to push through and got everything handed in which finally gave him his degree classification. I can not even begin to say just how proud I am of Adam, that he managed to do a full degree and get awarded an overall 2:1 despite a very complex learning process, being a new dad, working nights, learning to drive and a pandemic. The way he just got it done despite so many times of wanting to quit because of how exhausted he was but keeping it up anyway had me completely in awe. He isn’t finished yet and he hasn’t started a new career but he has an excellent foundation to build one now and I think his final year of study; doing his distance learning Masters degree will really help him in building a strong career, and hopefully enabling us to relocate next year.

    Masters Degree Application Through UCAS

    After handing in his last few assignments in May Adam considered the possibility of doing a Masters degree. He was back and fourth for a few weeks and finally applied a couple of days before the deadline. Applying for a Masters degree in the UK is a pretty straightforward process, especially if you’re returning to your University that awarded your degree. Adam applied through UCAS where he had to set up a post-grad account so he could send through his application. All he needed to know was the course, university, write a personal statement and submit a reference. Adam sent an email to a couple of his lecturers that taught him in his third year to ask for a reference, gave the name and email for UCAS to contact them and then submitted everything. It was actually done really quickly and a conditional offer came through within the next day. The condition was a degree classification of a 2:2. As soon as the results came throgh Adam sent them to the admissions team and the offer became unconditional offering him a place on his post grad masters degree in Reconcilliation and Peacebuilding. Once this was done Adam applied for a postgraduate masters loan through Student Finance. This is a one off amount designed to cover the fees of the tuition and help with some living costs. It is currently just over £11,000 and allows us to pay for our rent and tuition fees for Adams final year of study. It will be added on to his other student loans and payable back when his income exceeds £21,000 per year.

    Staring a distance learning Masters Degree

    Adam will be doing a distance learning Masters programme at Winchester University which is a little different than his previous years of study. This course is designed to be digital and he’s been really impressed with how quick the team of lecturers have started sharing details of the programme. There’s a facebook group for the students, he will be working on Microsoft Teams, plus the University online module pages. He has already been given his timetable which are all work friendly hours of 6-8pm three times a week. This means even with work he has plenty of time to rest, and study rather than rushing to a lecture after a full night shift. There is no commute which makes things easier and as he had to do the majority of his third year online he already knows how certain programmes work. I think it will be really good for him and whilst it is a good follow on from his degree, the change of subject will be interesting for him.

    Postgraduate Masters degrees are graded slightly differently. The minimum pass mark is higher at 50% and you either Pass, Merit or Distinction overall. He has three choices for his big project which include a 15,000-20,000 word disertation paper, an internship or a community based project. I personally think the internship will be the most suitable to Adam’s learning methods and desire for a career but this does depend on how it will affect his current place of work. Hopefully it’s something he can find out about in the coming weeks and I can share more about what an Internship/Consultancy module during a post-grad masters degree actually is and means.

    Pin this image

  • Starting University as a Mature Student

    Being a mature student is quickly becoming a bit of a norm in this country particularly with the rising popularity of access to higher education courses being offered. My partner Adam completed his social sciences access course in July and has accepted a place studying Criminology at Winchester university. Studying as a mature student is a great way to retrain but it does come with its own set of challenges.

    Adam applied for university very close to the UCAS deadline date during his access course in January. He applied for five university placements with two being at Winchester which is our closest university. One required him to pass his GCSE in Maths and one just requires him to pass his access course. Adam didn’t feel confident he would pass maths (although we have since found out that he has passed – but has remained on the course he wanted) so decided to confirm his choice and select criminology as his firm choice. As soon as student finance applications opened he applied and was told his finance allowance for the year.

    University Mature Student – Getting Student Loans

    As a mature student living away from home I had to fill in my details to support his application. Student finance is calculated on the previous years tax so Adams finance was calculated by our household income for 2016/2017 as he was planning on starting university in September 2018. As a mature student with a household income of less than £16,000 that year he was able to apply for

    Tuition Fee loan

    Maintenance loan

    Maintenance Loan top up (for lower incomes)

    Parental Grant

    Adult Dependant Grant

    He decided to apply for all of these as even though we would both be working when he started university I was three months pregnant and we were expecting our income to take a bit of a fall whilst I recover from birth and adjust to life with a newborn. We were then told what we had been accepted for. I think Adam is also entitled to a low income bursary from the university which isn’t payable in May. Apparently there is no need to apply as it is calculated automatically from Student Finance. As far as we are concerned, as a mature student with an adult dependant and two children any and all financial help is going to make a difference.

    After finding out what was to be awarded it was just a case of waiting for his official results to come through so he could inform the university and then have his offer changed from conditional to unconditional. He had a start date for 19th September to enroll with lectures beginning the week after.

    Saving Money as a Mature Student

    As a mature university student Adam has applied for a three year NUS discount card for £30. This allows lots of discounts on clothes, cinema and meals out. As a mature student he also qualified for a one year 16-25 rail card. To get this rail card there is a form you need to print out which you take to university when you enroll to have stamped. This then allows you to get a rail card reducing travel costs. Whilst Adam is learning to drive he will be getting the train to and from University every day. With the railcard he saves around 1/3 on his travel costs which will be a saving of around £300 each semester.

    The biggest challenge now is juggling that work life study and family balance. We will have a newborn in the house in October just after he has started university as well as juggling getting Evie to and from school. Adam will continue to work 29 hours a week from Sunday until Thursday during the evening and will be studying at university for three or four days a week. Time management is key for a mature student at university with a family at home. It does not leave a lot of time for the Social side of university life however as we are a family husband priorities are with studying and working.

    Here are some top tips to help you adjust to life as a mature student

    1. Don’t feel you will be the oldest one there. It’s very unlikely that you will be as university does not have an age limit. Some people enjoy studying throughout their lives and you are sure to find someone studying to increase their career prospects or because university works around their family.

    2. Get yourself a planner and set yourself a schedule so that you can plan your time wisely.

    3. Do consider getting a discount card and rail card to help you budget better and save money on essentials.

    4. You don’t have to sacrifice time with your family. It is a juggle but you can prepare for things like days out together or date nights when you have your schedule. As a mature student you still need time to put the books away and enjoy a break from time to time.

    5. It’s likely your student finance will be a buffer for your wages so budget wisely and consider paying things in advance with each payment you get such as rent. Our plan is to pay £1500 each semester which is around ten weeks rent and then top up with Adams wages.

    6. Student finance affects benefits. Universal Credit will take all of the income into consideration but I believe allow a certain amount for travel, books and essentials. Tax Credits do not ask about maintenance loans but will want to know about the total adult dependant grant. When you start university you should make this clear to any benefits that you receive to avoid being sent huge overpayment bills.

    Being a mature student has a lot of benefits and if you plan your time wisely it can be a great move for your career.

    Starting University as a Mature Student