Slightly more mature student wanting to teach!

Long story short, I am TA and I love my job but the more time I spend in a classroom, the more I want to teach.

I have 9 GCSE's but not in Maths so I need to study my Maths again and get a 4 or above.
Will enrol on that shortly.

I am 37 with a family and to get a degree I can take two routes : Open university (up to 6 years!) or go to UNI full time and it will take 3 years.

Anyone else in the same or a similar boat. I am at a point in my life where I know what I want to do but the route into it is very long.

Any one out there feeling my pain?
Holly x

I did my teacher training at 33/34. and there were two people in their 40s doing it with me. If it's a route you're set on, go for it, honestly

I'd just note that you can do a degree at full-time equivalent with the OU (i.e. graduate in 3 years). However as students normally can't get a maintenance loan studying with the OU, many are working alongside their studies and thus study part-time as it's more practical for balancing their work and study.

That is so good to hear. I know everyone complains about the workload and I see it first hand but I figure by the time I'm qualified my daughter will be starting secondary school. I do feel it takes a certain person to want to teach in the first place haha! We must be crazy! What route did you take?

The only thing that puts me off with OU is the fact you can't do the degree with QTS. You would have to get that after. I think working and studying the degree full time would be a killer unless I could work part time maybe. It would suit my lifestyle to learn through OU what with having a child and family though.

If you want to teach at secondary level the QTS comes after you complete your degree anyway as I understand, since you can only get QTS for secondary teaching from a PGCE.

If you wanted to teach primary though then that's a very valid consideration I imagine!

You can get QTS without a PGCE in an 'assessment only' route, done on the job, but there are a lot of caveats and you usually would need to have been working as an unqualified teacher rather than a TA.

Edit: I actually trained in a department with a non-PGCE candidate and she was very good (and got QTS).