I am poor and want to do a 2nd degree...how to fund this?

I am trying to get onto a second degree in Zoology, and am finding the money situation is going to be impossible. I would be happy to work for a couple of years to raise the fees and then work part time for my maintenence, that would be simple. But OH NO I CAN'T, because if I don't start in 2011, then the fees will double, and I'd be back at square 1 having nowhere near enough.

I can apply for a professional study loan, the maximum is £10000. That would cover fees only. I thought ok, I'll do it part time so I can work, but it seems I'll need to work around 30hrs pw to fund rent/bills/everything, which is not going to fit well around uni.

I'm applying for a graduate degree in medicine:

Due to already having an undergraduate degree, I can't apply for tuition fee loans in any way. The NHS will cover it in years 2-4 (for school leavers they only do the 5th year). I can apply for a maintenance loan, and that's it. So you're left to find the first year of tuition fees yourself.

The amount of money needed for training, the quality of research and teaching needed to meet the General Medical Council's requirements for a med school license it's almost certain that all schools will hit the 9k limit.

Some ask for the payments in instalments, which is a con seeing as you have to have proof of the ability to fund the totality of the first year before they let you start. (Side note, I hear Oxbridge make everyone do that, is it true? Does a loan letter count?)

My personal fears are they years 2-4 will only be part funded by the NHS too, due to the cuts in funding to it (Don't believe the Tory lies, it only looks like they're getting more funds because they've lumped health and social care together for the first time, so in reality it's being hit hard) so if they don't relax the rules about tuition loans I'll potentially have to find another £15,000+ (estimated, could be as much as 20) and for others it could be as much as £35,000!

A lot of people have shown their true colours over this. I'm really getting tired of of people who base their own opinions on things that only directly affect themselves. Make no mistake, this is going to be as divisive for social mobility as anything Blair did. Not only that, but they're opening up the market capitlisation of knowledge and I really don't see anyone except for Labour (yeah right) rolling back on it.

hear hear! I'm in total agreement. How can kids be sure what they want to do with your lives when they only tell you to start thinking about what course you want to apply for a week after your AS levels finish...i.e. you have but 1 month over the summer to decide what degree you want to do and a month doing the UCAS (for oxbridge), and a few months more for normal applications? It's rediculous. Whilst travelling I met many germans and they seem to have a fabulous education system whereby they have a year or more to decide what they want to study and it seems less pressured. They actually apply for uni after they've done they're equivalent of alevels! Now if only we had something like that in the UK we'd be sorted.

There is far too much pressure and too little advise about universities in the UK, at least if you went to a normal state comp like myself. You private school guys can clarify what happens in your respective school in terms of advise on further education.

So you didn't think to start considering degree choices until they told you too. Does that not tell you that maybe you're not ready for a degree?

And of course you can apply after A Levels in the UK. It's called a gap year. I know several people who are doing this...

Yer but it's like the social norm...at the time you just did it. If you didn't people frowned and thought u were a lazy bum or stupid. It's easier said in hindsight and in hindsight I wish I did take a gap year, or two.

On another note, now that these tuition fees have gone up, I don't think i''l be EVER doing a 2nd degree. I am not eligible for more funding and 9k a year is impossible for me to afford even if i get a job.

Shame on you ConDem!

I can only assume that everybody who is so unsympathetic to those wishing to do a second degree are either:




At 17, no matter how sure you are about what you want to do, you can't see into the future. Even if you enjoy your first degree (I loved mine) then the realities of working in that field afterwards may be disappointing, or it may be very very hard to find meaningful work in your field. Many graduates end up doing menial jobs or ones that are completely unrelated to their subject. Its not just about the degree itself, its about the 45 or so years after that when you're working every day. If you realise that you could make a better contribution to society or be much happier in another field and a degree is the only way to get into that field, why is that such a problem?

Many teenagers go to university due to pressure from family or schools, or because they always assumed they would even though they haven't figured out their true passion yet. I think its exceptionally cruel when the government are handing out massive debts left right and centre to deny them to the relatively small number of people who need them a second time round. If anything, there might be more chance of them actually getting paid back because somebody choosing a second degree as an adult is far more likely to choose something that will lead to a well paying, secure career.

I took 2 years out before applying to university so that I could travel and think through what I wanted to study. If people rush into their decisions and make the wrong ones, it's their own faults and therefore they should take responsibility for it. There's only so far the tax payer can baby sit you.

Lots of people who realise later that they made the wrong decision were 100% sure at the time with no reason to doubt their chosen degree. Things change, people deserve a second chance, loans get repayed.

Just do a part time masters or something. Do you really need a whole undergraduate degree? A MSc would look far better than 2x BSc.

This is a perfect example of why it's just plain wrong to put tution fees up threefold. The "you don'e have to pay it back till you earn over 21k" totally falls apart if you want to do a 2nd or 3rd degree. The coalition is just plain elitist. They want to make further education an exclusive club for but the rich who can afford it, not us common people.

This comes to mind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKFTtYx2OHc

One of the most stupid things I've ever read on here!

It isn't elitist telling wastrels that the taxpayer won't fund them fannying around doing degree after degree!