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Can I get a tuition fee loan for a second degree?

I'm 52, retired and already have a BA degree - not with honours. I would like to return to study but need a tuition loan. The course I want to study is an BA Honours degree. I know that you are unable to get a loan for a second degree at the same level but the level I am wishing to study at is higher than my existing degree. I looked STEM degrees but none of them are things I want to study. Thanks.

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

Original post

by Jillb217

Congrats on retiring early.

You can sometimes get away with getting a loan for a second bachelor's if the subject is amongst the exception list:
https://www.heinfo.slc.co.uk/resources/guidance/courses-management-service-user-guide/eligibility/equivalent-or-lower-qualification-elq-exceptions/?alttemplate=printchapter&id=1454
The general idea as far as I can tell is that they will fund you for degrees where you need them for regulatory or legal purposes in order to get into specific jobs e.g. you need a degree in medicine in order to be a doctor; you can't really become an architect without a degree; you need a degree in nursing in order to become a nurse. It's not all true that you can get funding for any STEM degree.

If you want to study degrees that are higher than what you have, have you considered postgrad degrees? I appreciate that some universities set certain time limits on when you can apply for postgrad with an undergrad, but some unis don't have such criteria.

Personally, the only time when I would consider doing a second undergrad is if I want to completely change discipline and there isn't a postgrad qualification that would allow me to convert or go straight into the discipline that I want.