Funding options for changing degree/second degree

OP

Original post by john2054

What makes you think that you would get a place on a stem degree, let alone complete one, let alone get a good grade at one. Why don't you complete what you have started. Stem is very different from nursing you know??

Yes, of course I know. This is something I have been considering for a long time but due to some circumstances I could not pursue earlier, I would like to go the foundation route. I don't want to just take the safe option and complete what I had started if there is opportunities for an Engineering degree with foundation year. I am willing to take the risks then settle for the course I am currently doing, Is there opportunities regarding this that you are aware of?

Thanks

Reply 22

OP

Original post by Hamo2509

Why can't you finish your current degree and progress to a Master's in engineering if that is what you so want to do?
There's a hell of a lot of scholarship funds for post-grad.

Do not think that is possible with my degree, however, I would consider this with other post-graduate opportunities outside of nursing. Is this something you know about?

Reply 23

Hamo2509

14

Original post by theike

Do not think that is possible with my degree, however, I would consider this with other post-graduate opportunities outside of nursing. Is this something you know about?

I don't know a lot about this, but I do know its very difficult to get onto a second UG degree after you've dropped out of your first. It'd be a gamble for the university to offer you a place.

Reply 24

Original post by theike

Afaik?

As far as I know.

Also, you won't be able to do an Engineering masters unless you have an engineering related degree. So no, Nursing probably wouldn't be suitable (but I think you know this already).

The part-time degree options might include Open University

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Reply 25

OP

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Thank you. You have been very helpful. I will fill out the PN1 for and see what their assessment of me is.

Also, if you know anyone else that had been or is in a similar position and someone that can offer me further advice,can you please tag them?

Thank you

Reply 26

Original post by theike

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Thank you. You have been very helpful. I will fill out the PN1 for and see what their assessment of me is.

Also, if you know anyone else that had been or is in a similar position and someone that can offer me further advice,can you please tag them?

Thank you

The new arrangement for part-time funding is for courses starting in 2017/18, so I don't know if you, or SFE factor that into the assessment.

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Reply 27

Universities Forum Helper

Here's more information about the part-time STEM funding situation from the OU.
http://www.open.ac.uk/ousa/news-and-events/news/blogs/fees-and-funding-information-week

Also it seems TSR notifications are temporarily broken which might be why @Snufkin hasn't had a chance to join this thread.

I'm also tagging @Klix88

Reply 28

Snufkin

Original post by theike

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Thank you. You have been very helpful. I will fill out the PN1 for and see what their assessment of me is.

Also, if you know anyone else that had been or is in a similar position and someone that can offer me further advice,can you please tag them?

Thank you

Only just got this notification!

The formula used to calculate your student finance entitlement is: length of degree - previous years of study (partial years count as full years) + 1 gift year = entitlement. Assuming you drop out before you begin your third year and the degree you want to do is also three years long, you will have two years of funding left. You would need to finance the first year yourself. Other than receiving a scholarship, which is very unlikely, there is no way around having to fund the first year yourself (unless you have to leave university because you're ill, and can prove it). Even if you do get a scholarship, you almost certainly won't know that you've received it until just before term starts, it would be a big gamble and the chances of it paying off are not high.

Jneill is correct, from August 2017 students who already have a degree will be eligible for tuition fee loans if they're doing a part-time STEM degree. This was first announced last year but it has only recently been confirmed, see here: http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2016-07-21/HCWS117/

The other (rather drastic) alternative is that you go abroad after finishing your Nursing degree. A number of European universities offer English-taught Engineering degrees. Germany is in my opinion the best place to go; no tuition fees, low cost of living and excellent engineering schools.

Reply 29

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Snufkin

The other (rather drastic) alternative is that you go abroad after finishing your Nursing degree. A number of European universities offer English-taught Engineering degrees. Germany is in my opinion the best place to go; no tuition fees, low cost of living and excellent engineering schools.

Thanks for that! I was going to mention the European option too but thought it may get even more complicated by 2017/18... but I'll add Ireland into that mix anyway (not sure if there's a Foundation course though...).

Also, I presume @theike doesn't have Maths a-level hence why they are considering going via a Foundation year. But another option may be to self-teach A-level maths.

OP do you have any science A-levels?

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 30

Snufkin

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by jneill

Thanks. I was going to mention the European option too but thought it may get even more complicated by 2017/18... but I'll add Ireland into that mix anyway (not sure if there's a Foundation course though...).

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Ireland again, heh. :lep:

One assumes that if the OP has a Nursing degree he wouldn't need to do a foundation year? It might be worth self-studying a maths A level though.

Reply 31

catinsomehat

15

Someone in my family did an undergraduate degree in psychology, then a masters, then because the NHS paid for nursing degrees she did an undergraduate nursing degree.
She didn't pay for anything herself and graduated last year with her third degree.

Because you would've gotten on the nursing degree before the changes this year (in which the degree becomes the same as other degrees with student loans in the same way), I think you should be entitled to 4 years of funding (this is what Student Finance gives everyone).

I'm not sure they understand that your degree is different to other degrees because of the NHS (it's only changing this year in September 2016 for new students).

The people at Student Finance can be...annoying though. So they probably won't listen and won't give it to you, you may need to pay for the first year but you need to make sure before you drop out that you'll get a student loan for the other years and that you'll actually get on a course somewhere. There's no point in dropping out

Also, you DON'T necessarily need an undergraduate engineering degree to do a masters degree, a lot of engineering masters degrees that aren't integrated are actually MSc (not MEng) as they're considered professional degrees for people already in industry. If you contact a university though they'll probably let you on if you explain that you want a career change, it's just getting some work experience that you'll probably find difficult for your thesis, then getting work afterwards.

What sort of engineering did you want to do? Electrical/Electronic, Mechanical, Civil?

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 32

Snufkin

Original post by catinsomehat

Someone in my family did an undergraduate degree in psychology, then a masters, then because the NHS paid for nursing degrees she did an undergraduate nursing degree.
She didn't pay for anything herself and graduated last year with her third degree.

Because you would've gotten on the nursing degree before the changes this year (in which the degree becomes the same as other degrees with student loans in the same way), I think you should be entitled to 4 years of funding (this is what Student Finance gives everyone).

I'm not sure they understand that your degree is different to other degrees because of the NHS (it's only changing this year in September 2016 for new students).

Nope, this is unfortunately not the case (see my above post). It doesn't matter if it is an NHS degree, it still counts as previous study.

Reply 33

catinsomehat

15

Original post by Snufkin

Nope, this is unfortunately not the case (see my above post). It doesn't matter if it is an NHS degree, it still counts as previous study.

Yeah, it might be better for OP to go to another country while they still have a chance to study engineering then.
Or just pay for the first year themselves.

Alternatively, finishing the current degree and then applying to a university for a masters for engineering without an undergraduate degree as explained in my previous post would be okay (a lot of them are actually MSc), but it's going to be very hard without work experience and the knowledge needed from an undergraduate level (since they feel that they need to start from a foundation year this is probably not a good idea). Non-integrated Masters in Engineering are for people usually that are currently in industry.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 34

Original post by Snufkin

One assumes that if the OP has a Nursing degree he wouldn't need to do a foundation year? It might be worth self-studying a maths A level though.

Yes - they'd need to check that.

Reply 35

Original post by catinsomehat

Alternatively, finishing the current degree and then applying to a university for a masters for engineering without an undergraduate degree as explained in my previous post would be okay (a lot of them are actually MSc), but it's going to be very hard without work experience and the knowledge needed from an undergraduate level (since they feel that they need to start from a foundation year this is probably not a good idea). Non-integrated Masters in Engineering are for people usually that are currently in industry.

They won't be able to do an engineering MSc unless they have a related BEng/BSc.

I agree they should finish their current degree though.

Reply 36

OP

I am currently self-teaching myself Maths in the case that I would need it to apply for anything. Have yet to pay to sit the exam. I have a grade A in A level Pure Philosophy, grade B in psychology and grade B In history. I have mostly Bs and Cs for my GCSEs.

I can get a first in my current degree and I would not drop out unless it was necessary and I had a confirmed position somewhere else.

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Reply 37

Original post by theike

I am currently self-teaching myself Maths in the case that I would need it to apply for anything. Have yet to pay to sit the exam. I have a grade A in A level Pure Philosophy, grade B in psychology and grade B In history. I have mostly Bs and Cs for my GCSEs.

I can get a first in my current degree and I would not drop out unless it was necessary and I had a confirmed position somewhere else.

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Ok that's good. You might not need to do a Foundation then. I presume you are concerned about not having Physics but is there a particular engineering specialisation that interests you? For example, some flavours of engineering don't require Physics at some universities. (e.g. Birmingham for Civil, and Warwick for General Engineering, there's many others...)

So a next step could be to check with some potential universities to see if a 1st in Nursing plus A-level maths would be sufficient.

Reply 38

Hamo2509

14

You can also look at a postgraduate diploma (known as a PGDip) in engineering. These courses are specifically for people who already have a degree in another, unrelated area. They only take two years to complete, but are equivalent to an additional degree. Could be an option if you can only get your hands on two years of funding from SFE.

Reply 39

OP