Hours per week - part time or full time

i have a child and work part time but am looking to do a degree. Not sure which is best part time or full time? How many hours roughly are you looking at a week for each? And do you get as much help financially with part time as you would full time?

Reply 1

James77

I think - but not sure Full time is 16 hours, but varies. I dont know how many part time is, I guess maybe 8?? But im not sure if part time is considered 1 full day, or over 2 days at 4 hours or is it in evenings?
Id also like to know... sorry I just asked this in another thread aswell!

Reply 2

DarkWhite

Part-time/Full-time is relative to the hours other people work in the organisation. Full time is often considered to be 35 hours or more, but there's no figure set in stone.

How much support you get depends on how long you've been independent for. If it's only for a year or so, then your financial assistance will be based on your parents' income, if you go for means-tested support; if you've been dependent upon yourself only for 3 years or more than I think it's based on your income. They do take into consideration your dependents though, i.e. your kids.

Outside of means-tested support, you're entitled to the same as everyone else, assuming it's your first undergraduate degree and all the rest of it :smile:

If I was working whilst at university, I'd just fo degree work in between lectures/labs/tutorials and my working rota, not try and work around my university work. I'm not saying your paid work would take priority, although you do have the kid to look after, but you can do uni work whenever and wherever as long as you get it in on time, whereas your employer might feel differently about you choosing your own hours!

How many hours depends on your course - how much you already know, how quickly you learn and the content and depth covered. I could work full-time hours and do my degree for this year, but probably not for next year, as that's the amount of time I'm spending doing societies, clubs, and extra-curriculars, which I could just replace with work, but everybody's different. Some people have many less hours contact time so more time to work, others find that they have much more uni work than spare time so couldn't really fit more than a few hours a week in.

Your best bet would be a job in the Students' Union, as they're generally very flexible, especially around exams it seems, and they'll pay you a fair rate and possibly give you useful discounts or deals :smile:

Get in touch with your SU before heading off to uni and see what job they'll have available, as they usually get swiped fairly quickly, especially given that it'll be second and third years looking for work :p:

Information on employment: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/EmploymentContractsAndConditions/DG_10027738
Student Finance: http://www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinance

Reply 3

Roodie

I think financial help is proportionate to the hours studied, so a part-time degree would allow you to apply for about 50% of what you could get if you were full-time. But double check this.
My full-time degree involves 20 hours of extra time on top of about 15 hours of lecture and practicals, so I would think about this especially as you have a child. I've got a little boy and a partner, and the hours I spend with them and also household duties means I haven't got the time for a part-time job even though we are struggling financially. Some others on my course manage to work 20 hours a week though.

Reply 4

loosername

thanks for your answers. Luckily my job is a 5pm-8pm 3 times a week, so shouldnt interfere too much... i'v put my name down for an open day so hopefully can get some more answers there.

Roodie, how to you find it studying with a child? Do you get to see much of him and your partner and do you get much help financially because you have a partner? From what i've been reading, it seems if you are a single mum, you get a lot of help but if you are part of a family, not so much?

Reply 5

Owly

Hi,

From my own experience, I'd say try part-time initially and then full-time if you can. The reason I think that's a better idea is that until you start you won't know the contact hours + workload. I studied part-time while my daughter was young, but now she's older, it's not so much of a problem. Workload and contact hours will vary, dependent on your course, but if you contact the admissions tutors for the universities you're interested in, they will give you some idea of what to expect. What particular courses are you interested in?

Hours per week - part time or full time

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you