University for the sake of it?

Do you think it's worth getting into £50,000+ of debt for? The off-chance that it might be better than your current situation? Without a particular end goal in mind, or a subject that you really want to study, there's just as much chance that it could add to your problems and make you feel worse.

Don't rule it out, but at the moment it sounds like you need to give uni a bit more thought before embarking on that road.

Thanks for this. I guess you're right. I just need huge change in my life at the moment. Living on my own and being in a career I don't want to be in long term is taking its toll!

Maybe you could start out more slowly? Websites like Future Learn host free online courses on a whole range of subjects, which are put together and run by universities. You could try a few things out (most courses are only a few weeks long and take a handful of hours each week) and see whether any subject particularly appeals to you. You can study at your own pace, there are no exams and you can skip any informal tests if you want to, so there's no pressure. You don't get qualifications from them, but they'd be a great way of getting your mind in gear.

I left school at 16 to go straight into work, and now I look back I think I was persuaded and sucked into the whole 'earning my own money' thing instead of carrying on in education. At the time the thought of earning my own money was great so that I did. I ended up in a carpet factory on shifts, but it was sugar coated with the fact I was also working towards an NVQ (which meant nothing and seems very pointless now)

6 years on and the place was on the verge of closing down so I got out and ended up getting a job for a contractor as part of a big water company. Unlike the previous job there seems to be a bit more potential, and with time I could work my way up to better things.

However, I've been there 6 months now and as much as I prefer it to what I was doing before I keep thinking about what if I had gone down the educational route? I literally lost all my contacts and never had a social life since I finished school. This in turn (I believe) has brought on anxiety and just caused problems for me. I've seen so many of my school friends go to universities all over the country and loved the experience, made many great friends etc.

My initial plan was to move out of where I'm living and go travelling for a few months with no real plan as to what to do afterwards, but the more I think about it, would now not be a wise choice to complete an access to HE course and proceed to university and make up for the years I lost? Ideally I'd be hoping to pursue a course/career I actually enjoy while making a new connection of friends. Forgive me if I'm coming across that university is the answer to all my problems, but I've read from many people on here it's an experience they will cherish forever. Would appreciate any advice. I'm 23 btw.

If you go to university for the sake of it you could just end up unhappy and miserable for 3 years. Remember its more than the social life- its about having to undertake research in a lab or library, write up findings, meet constant deadlines, revise for exams and that can be torture if you don't enjoy what you are studying.

Also universities require evidence of recent education, so you would likely need to take an Access Course (a 1 year course for those aged 19+) or A-Levels.

Also in this day and age unless you are studying nursing or medicine a degree doesn't equal a better job on its own, whilst there are a number of graduate roles out there, competition for them is intense. Employers look for evidence of work experience and many graduate schemes at least have a number of layers in the application process- this may include competency questions, online tests- numerical/verbal reasoning, competency questionnaires, situational judgement tests, phone interviews, assessment centres. There are non graduate scheme graduate jobs which just require a CV & covering letter, in which case you have to be able to polish them up well.

Obviously the work experience you have will help to some extent, especially if you can highlight the relevant skills you have gained, but work experience more relevant to what you want to go into post uni can help you stand out- obviously this is difficult if you don't know what you want to do.

If you know what subject you really want to study, know what you want to do post uni and work to build up as much work experience and can jump through whatever application hoops are thrown at you then uni can pay off. However if you don't have a clear pathway then it can be harder to make it pay off.

You make it sound like prison.

I don't get it with people. I looked in a thread 5 minutes ago where everybody was going nuts about not wanting to finish university because it's been the most amazing experience of their life. Yet all I've got from this thread is pure negativity.

Of course it's going to be hard, I've worked 40+ hour weeks the past 7 years of my life, I'm not exactly coming in from sitting on my ass all day.

I understand the whole 'picking something you'll enjoy' but surely this is a no brainer, don't fall at the first hurdle kind of baby step right?

You make it sound like prison.

I don't get it with people. I looked in a thread 5 minutes ago where everybody was going nuts about not wanting to finish university because it's been the most amazing experience of their life. Yet all I've got from this thread is pure negativity.

Of course it's going to be hard, I've worked 40+ hour weeks the past 7 years of my life, I'm not exactly coming in from sitting on my ass all day.

I understand the whole 'picking something you'll enjoy' but surely this is a no brainer, don't fall at the first hurdle kind of baby step right?

Remember that due to the nature of the site the people posting are likely to have enjoyed uni, otherwise they wouldn't be on a forum for students and giving out advice, they simply wouldn't care enough. I know people who have dropped out, people who have graduated but said they wouldn't repeat uni if they could turn back the clock, and recently a few people I've spoken to have described university as the worst time of their life and they don't even want to think of it ever again.

Anyway, my experiences/opinion etc. I also dropped out of education at 16 and got a job, my first couple of jobs were admin/receptionist work, then I got lucky with a job as a lab assistant in the NHS. I carried on working but did my A levels at the same time and to be honest it was exhausting, not impossible as far as time management goes, but my mental health took a massive hit. I studied one through ICS Distance Learning (if it's a course that doesn't need coursework assessment then don't bother using them, just buy the textbooks and teach yourself), I did an evening class at my local college and I just self taught another couple of subjects. I knew exactly what degree I wanted to do though, I know what sort of job I'm aiming for, and I got a place at uni and I do love it but a big part of that is that I love my course. Doing it just for the social experiences is both expensive and risky, assuming I can do PG like I want to I'll have run up over £61k of debt, plus I spent thousands on my A levels. There's no guarantees you'll have the amazing social life either, please don't think I am criticising you as a person because I don't know you, but I have friends who struggle to make friends; one of them realised he has made 4 friends during his first year at uni.

In summary, I got very lucky. I like my course, I get on with my lecturers, I've coasted this year (I only needed to score 50% and I didn't want to stress myself out as I came off antidepressants part way through the year) and I'll still get a 2:1 at least, I've had a great time through uni societies, I've made more friends here than I've ever had, but not everyone has the same positive experience and if you didn't I think having an end goal to work towards would help.

ETA: The £61000 excludes roughly £13000 in grant money, which wouldn't be available to new uni starters.

I am having kind of the same problem. I am 24, I did A Levels but was tired of college (kinda thought it was a bit ********), so after that I just worked and have worked ever since then, in crappy jobs. So, I have been out of education for 6 years, and it seems a little daunting to go back now. Part of me wants to study, because I am tired of the kind of jobs I have been working (factory, supermarket, cleaning), and I think I can do better for myself.

I know I am not completely stupid, but part of me thinks maybe I am not quite smart enough for university. I enjoy learning, I am learning Spanish right now, I learnt to play guitar ten years ago, I enjoy learning about history, politics, travel, and whatever takes my fancy on the internet. I want to improve myself, and of course you can learn anything you want to, without going to university, although for many of jobs you need the piece of paper that says you studied at university for 3+ years, did exams, coursework etc.

If I decide to study, it won't be for another year or so, until I am sure what I want to do, if at all. I have travelled quite a lot the last 3 years, but I can't (and don't want to) do that forever. I was also thinking about "university as the answer to all my problems", some of my friends I met travelling encourage me to study, but ultimately it's my choice.

The whole "education" thing seems like a huge business to get people in debt, and I hate that and would prefer not to be a part of that. There is a lot more people go to university now than 20 / 30 / 40 years ago, when only the really smart people went. And now everyone is jumping on the bandwagon getting into debt, because it's the thing to do. So now I am wondering, is going to university the smart thing (for me)? I really don't know