Full-time PGDL and working?

I'm due to be studying the PGDL at BPP next year but will realistically need to work part-time alongside it in order to afford living etc.

Does anyone have any experience on how feasible this is? For reference, I've worked part-time (5 hours/week) throughout university and have at points found that to be quite challenging.

Reply 1

BPP Students

Official Rep

Hi h0pefulstudent,

I am aware that teachers recommend no more than one day of working as classes tend to be 3 to 4 days, due to the number of hours needed to learn and consolidate post sessions (as a current LLM LPC student. I suppose it will be no different for PGDL full-time.

I believe 5hr a week should be manageable with full-time study with the exception of exam times and different challenging circumstances such as cold or flu or illness or other extenuating circumstances. If in doubt, you can always double-check with your personal tutor while doing PGDL or maybe see how you feel with the workload once you start the course. I wouldn't worry too much about 5hr a week of work.

Hope this helps.
Best wishes
Farzana
BPP ambassador
LLM LPC student

BPP University

Reply 2

oneyeartogo

Hiya! Apologies for the late reply but I've been looking for some info on BPP recently and saw your post.

I've just finished the full-time PGDL (hopefully, unless I've got any resits!) and I've been working between fifteen and twenty hours a week throughout the course. I would recommend:
- Getting a flexible job (I had three, but primarily I was an online tutor) to minimise your time spent commuting/maximise your opportunities to study.
- Making a really good study schedule ahead of time (realistically you will need to spend about four-five hours preparing for each class each week, and one hour for consolidation if you want a decent grade, so make sure you allocate that time first and THEN look at when to work).
- Warning your family/loved ones you will just be really busy. I got a lot of comments like 'But when is your free time?' and like tbh the answer is 'I have none' but unless they're going to offer to pay for you, its a necessity and its good to warn them in advance that you might just be unavailable.

Ultimately its only 8 months and after the first reading week the time honestly flew by. I got all distinctions in my first term so its definitely doable. For the most part I was working about 100% between my jobs and studying, but I did also get some lovely downtime too and managed to get through with some lazy days, so don't be too harsh on yourself! Good luck.

Original post by h0pefulstudent