Balancing Work and Study

Hey all,

I'm planning on starting a part time BSc in Psychology in October 2019. This will require 9 hours of lectures at Birkbeck every week and they seem to recommend an extra 2 hours of self study per hour of lectures which equates to 18 self study hours which means 27 hours of studying a week in total.

Does any have any experience on studying part time whilst doing a full time/part time job. Seems really difficult to have time to study if you have a full time job from 9-5, Mon-fri, as it looks like you'll have no free time at all. Just confused about how to balance it all out.

Reply 1

EGMJ

Hi! Trying to figure it out as well..I am starting BA Languages with International Law in October. I have a full-time job lined up and have no idea how I will still have time to study apart from on the weekends. Starting to consider the part-time route.
My friend, who studied at Birkbeck, said her part-time friend was annoyed because he could have done the full-time course with his full-time job but I'm not so sure.

If anyone has advice or experience please do let us know!
Thanks a lot

Birkbeck College

London

Reply 2

digitalniteshade

Hey,

I am just finishing my first year at Birkbeck, doing part time Psychology.

My experience with work/study is this:

I worked a very demanding, senior management role Mon-Fri 9-5pm, heading straight from work to uni for lectures from 6-9pm. On the part time course, you attend 3 nights a week whereas the full time is 4 nights (I think).

I found it challenging, but mostly because I am a single parent of two teens. If I did not have the extra responsibilities of looking after the family, I would say that the part time course and full time work is definitely doable without too much stress.

However, when it came towards exam season, this is when I decided to put uni before my earnings. Because I am aiming for a 2:1 or higher (to give me postgraduate options) I decided to change from a full time to part time job (24 hours a week). It gave me enough time to study several hours a day and pull out some very good results in those exams.

I would recommend full time work and the part time degree to someone who doesn't have childcare/family responsibilities. It is really very doable. Depending on how active your social life is, you could even add the extra module and do the full time course. Just make sure you use some annual leave leading up to exams, or are extremely organised with your revision timetable.

To those with extra responsibilities, the maintenance loan combined with part time work and part time study makes for a really good work life balance.

Hope that helps

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 3

EGMJ

That’s really helpful, thank you for taking the time!! All the best