Mature Student Advice - money, work, studying, etc.

Hello,

I've joined this forum hoping I can get real world advice on how to juggle work, studying and money. For some background on my situation:

- I'm 30 years old
- I work full time
- I live with my partner, no children
- I am VERY keen to go to university to study Animal Behaviour

I feel like I missed the boat when everybody else went to uni as I really wasn't sure what I wanted to do at the time. Now I am a qualified veterinary nurse with a passion for animal behaviour and when I'm looking at careers away from nursing and more towards behaviour I feel like the only thing holding me back is my lack of degree.

I would like to know is it possible to do a full time university course and work alongside it? How many hours per week are people studying/attending lectures and how many hours per week is feasible for working?

I would consider a part time course but unfortunately I can only consider my closest university (Lincoln) which only offers this particular degree full time. I'm not in a position to move away to study.

Any advice on how to juggle anything would be greatly received.

Thank you in advance.

Original post by Janine.93

Hello,

I've joined this forum hoping I can get real world advice on how to juggle work, studying and money. For some background on my situation:

- I'm 30 years old
- I work full time
- I live with my partner, no children
- I am VERY keen to go to university to study Animal Behaviour

I feel like I missed the boat when everybody else went to uni as I really wasn't sure what I wanted to do at the time. Now I am a qualified veterinary nurse with a passion for animal behaviour and when I'm looking at careers away from nursing and more towards behaviour I feel like the only thing holding me back is my lack of degree.

I would like to know is it possible to do a full time university course and work alongside it? How many hours per week are people studying/attending lectures and how many hours per week is feasible for working?

I would consider a part time course but unfortunately I can only consider my closest university (Lincoln) which only offers this particular degree full time. I'm not in a position to move away to study.

Any advice on how to juggle anything would be greatly received.

Thank you in advance.

Hi @Janine.93

It is really great to hear that you are thinking of returning to education!

It is possible to work part-time alongside studying full-time as the majority of students today have to do that anyway. It is not ideal of course because there is an expectation that you complete private study outside of timetabled sessions, so that is when it becomes quite tricky balancing work with studying.

However, as you'll be living at home and I am assuming not really interested in the typical 'university experience' it will be much easier to balance the two. I think one of the biggest struggles for most students is that a day off usually ends up being spent hungover and very unproductive rather than using that day to stay on top of uni workload or working.

Personally, I have 9 hours of timetabled university per week and I like to spend around 6 hours per week doing private studying (depending on how close I am to deadlines). This works really well for me and I manage to achieve firsts in my assignments (just about!). I still have time to work and volunteer.

The holidays are much longer than school holidays too! But it all depends on your course so definitely go to an open day and talk to the lecturers who may be teaching you.

I wish you all the best and good luck!

Anastasia,
BCU Student Rep

Reply 2

Janine.93

OP

1

Original post by BCU Student Rep

Hi @Janine.93

It is really great to hear that you are thinking of returning to education!

It is possible to work part-time alongside studying full-time as the majority of students today have to do that anyway. It is not ideal of course because there is an expectation that you complete private study outside of timetabled sessions, so that is when it becomes quite tricky balancing work with studying.

However, as you'll be living at home and I am assuming not really interested in the typical 'university experience' it will be much easier to balance the two. I think one of the biggest struggles for most students is that a day off usually ends up being spent hungover and very unproductive rather than using that day to stay on top of uni workload or working.

Personally, I have 9 hours of timetabled university per week and I like to spend around 6 hours per week doing private studying (depending on how close I am to deadlines). This works really well for me and I manage to achieve firsts in my assignments (just about!). I still have time to work and volunteer.

The holidays are much longer than school holidays too! But it all depends on your course so definitely go to an open day and talk to the lecturers who may be teaching you.

I wish you all the best and good luck!

Anastasia,
BCU Student Rep

That's really helpful thank you, do you know how far in advance they release timetables of lectures? If I'm going to approach my workplace for a drop in hours it would be useful to have some idea when I would be available to work.

Original post by Janine.93

That's really helpful thank you, do you know how far in advance they release timetables of lectures? If I'm going to approach my workplace for a drop in hours it would be useful to have some idea when I would be available to work.

Hi @Janine.93

As an undergraduate student, I receive my timetable about a month in advance of starting a semester, though this can be different and varied. I'm unsure if this is the same for postgrad courses. I would suggest getting in touch with your question, I've dropped the contact below. And you could add more specifically the timetable details so you can plan your schedule around work.

Enquiry form: UK enquiry form | Birmingham City University (bcu.ac.uk)
Postgrad course in general: https://bit.ly/3Rh1RBC

Hope this helps!
Emily
BCU Student Rep 🙂

Reply 4

University of Bradford

Official Rep

18

Original post by Janine.93

Hello,

I've joined this forum hoping I can get real world advice on how to juggle work, studying and money. For some background on my situation:

- I'm 30 years old
- I work full time
- I live with my partner, no children
- I am VERY keen to go to university to study Animal Behaviour

I feel like I missed the boat when everybody else went to uni as I really wasn't sure what I wanted to do at the time. Now I am a qualified veterinary nurse with a passion for animal behaviour and when I'm looking at careers away from nursing and more towards behaviour I feel like the only thing holding me back is my lack of degree.

I would like to know is it possible to do a full time university course and work alongside it? How many hours per week are people studying/attending lectures and how many hours per week is feasible for working?

I would consider a part time course but unfortunately I can only consider my closest university (Lincoln) which only offers this particular degree full time. I'm not in a position to move away to study.

Any advice on how to juggle anything would be greatly received.

Thank you in advance.

Hey @Janine.93 how are you? :smile:

It's great to hear you're wanting to go to university and study Animal Behaviour, that sounds so interesting! I miss university, I studied Media and Popular Culture when I was a student and loved being in education 🙂

Some adult learners here at Bradford actually shared some great advice for completing a degree whilst juggling work and life, so thought I'd share some of the advice for you in case you find it helpful!

Kulchuma: 'Studying and managing a household has been tricky but manageable. I have found the best way to manage my time efficiently is to keep a colour coded timetable, as it allows me to allocate time quickly and efficiently to tasks that need to be done. The timetable also allows me to identify gaps in my time that I can use to stay on top of my work.'

Elzarie: 'It isn't easy being an adult learner student - having to manage more than just your studies is hard. Fortunately, I do not have a family to care for yet, but I had to find a way to prioritise my studies, work and responsibilities. I keep a weekly diary which I update every Sunday to highlight my working hours and divide my study, work and relax time for the week ahead. I give myself earlier deadlines to complete assignments to ensure that I have extra time if an emergency out of my control should happen.'

I saw your other comment about asking your work for a drop in hours, so if your employer does understand you'll have academic demands this will hopefully make things a bit easier for you. Did you manage to get in contact with anyone at Lincoln to find out the timetable schedule? :smile:

I wish you the best of luck with everything, and hope you find a great work-study balance :smile:

Becky

Reply 5

LaurenElle96

2

27 year old first-year Law student here!

Alongside a maintenence loan (I currently receive the maximum amount which is a little over £3,000 every three months, deposited three times per school year) I did have a weekend job for Saturday & Sundays however I recently left it so I can fully focus on my studies.
I am on the books for a local bar/restaurant for overtime during school breaks so I can make up savings (My uni breaks mid May and isn't back until September so that's almost four months of full-time work so can make about £7,000 during this period as min-wage for my age is about £11ph.) Add in all the weeks off here and there such as Christmas break (6 weeks off) spring break (4 weeks off), your average wage isn't too bad if you're pulling shifts over these breaks.

If you can maintain a weekend job alongside your uni, good on you. I might go back to one Saturday, but uni really is a full-time job in itself. I have lectures or seminars everyday of the week, and I stay all day at university as I achieve way more on campus than I do at home.
Returning to uni as a mature student - especially when living with someone else - requires a lot of budget planning and open communication on expectations.

If you want to ask any questions, please just let me know!

Original post by Janine.93

Hello,
I've joined this forum hoping I can get real world advice on how to juggle work, studying and money. For some background on my situation:
- I'm 30 years old
- I work full time
- I live with my partner, no children
- I am VERY keen to go to university to study Animal Behaviour
I feel like I missed the boat when everybody else went to uni as I really wasn't sure what I wanted to do at the time. Now I am a qualified veterinary nurse with a passion for animal behaviour and when I'm looking at careers away from nursing and more towards behaviour I feel like the only thing holding me back is my lack of degree.
I would like to know is it possible to do a full time university course and work alongside it? How many hours per week are people studying/attending lectures and how many hours per week is feasible for working?
I would consider a part time course but unfortunately I can only consider my closest university (Lincoln) which only offers this particular degree full time. I'm not in a position to move away to study.
Any advice on how to juggle anything would be greatly received.
Thank you in advance.

Hello @Janine.93,

It sounds like you're at a very exciting time of your life and its great to see that you're planning ahead to help you balance everything!

We have a blog post dedicated to providing full-time professionals with strategies to balance full-time work and study, I think this might help with your preparations - https://bit.ly/3PgRZ9z

I hope that this helps and good luck!

Thanks,

Becky

Reply 7

azzyb524

6

Original post by Janine.93

That's really helpful thank you, do you know how far in advance they release timetables of lectures? If I'm going to approach my workplace for a drop in hours it would be useful to have some idea when I would be available to work.

Hi, I previously attended University of Lincoln - I was given my timetable a few weeks before starting university, and the timetable released was for the whole academic year so easy to schedule work around!

Mature Student Advice - money, work, studying, etc.

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