Paid Members SpursRiot2012 Posted January 22, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted January 22, 2015 Yes, it's another thread where I'm trying to work out what the fuck to do with my life. Â I've recently got the idea of getting some qualifications in a field that actually interests me and use that to go out and get a job I actually like, instead of sitting around in a job I hate, waiting to die. Â But it's all very confusing. For instance, am I entitled to tuition and maintenance loans? I'm 27, and working full time. I suppose I'd have to only be working part-time, or a certain amount of hours a week. Â I left school with a few GCSE's and have been working ever since. My girlfriend seems to think there are university courses that aren't going to need me to have A-levels and stuff, because I'd be joining as a mature student. Is this right? Â Any and all experiences of this appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiWri Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 If you haven't had a student loan previously, you'll be entitled to one if you go onto a University course. You can apply for a tutition fee loan at any age (over 18) and can get maintenance loans up until the age of 60.  In terms of whether you'd need A Levels (or any other 'Level 3' qualification) to get onto a University course it will depend on a few factors such as:  Which subject area you want to go into If you have any work/life experience in that area Your University of choice For example, most Science or Health based courses will look for a combination of qualifications and experience. Courses such as History and Geography (to pick two examples) may look less at your qualifications and more at your experience and your Personal Statement to see how suited you would be to study. You'd probably be looking at undertaking a Foundation Year in this circumstance. That would make it a four year course rather than three (you can get funding for all four years and the Foundation Year is usually cheaper than the following three).  If you did need to gain extra qualifications before going to University, an Access to HE Diploma is a widely accepted alternative to A Levels, particularly for mature students. You'd probably be entitled to a 24+ Loan to fund that course, which lasts one academic year. The beauty of that loan is that if you go onto complete an undergradutae degree you don't have to pay it back.  https://www.accesstohe.ac.uk/ 24+ Loan  The best thing to do is get an idea of which subject area you want to study/work in and have a look at the Universities that offer those courses. Hot Courses isn't a bad place to start, a sort of 'Compare the Market' for University courses.  http://www.hotcourses.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty Eddie Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 My Gap Year after A-Levels at 18 turned into 10 years, so I started my degree at 28 after a decade of weed, random travelling and a few shit jobs. Â You get plenty of help and I had no issues financially (though I shared a house with mates so my living arrangements were pretty cheap anyway). I probably didn't need a degree to head into my favoured line of work (film, TV, media) but I hugely enjoyed uni, learnt a hell of a lot and got a great result at the end of it. I'm currently working part-time at a theatre and cinema (doing a little bit of editing work for them and working in sales/box office) while taking as many little videography or editing jobs as I can find in my spare time. I'm not doing anything super exciting but it's worlds apart from the crap jobs I had before and I've acquired some skills to be able to work on my own projects if I so choose. Â Go for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members SpursRiot2012 Posted January 22, 2015 Author Paid Members Share Posted January 22, 2015 Thanks SiWri for those links and Eddie for your input. Â I've been working in media related roles since 2005, before that I was a fishmonger. I've been a tape librarian, archive researcher, production assistant, edit assistant and am currently a subtitler, so I think I want to move away from that whole industry. Â Beyond that, I have no idea what to do. Some research is in order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sphinx Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I've never been to uni but it's a regret of mine. Would you stand out much being on campus and older? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patiirc Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Yeah, first time mature students will get pretty much the kitchen sink thrown at them to help. I'm bollocksed cos my degree was good for nowt and to retrain in a field I want to, Counselling teaching etc. Is gunna cost an arm and a leg because of Equal and Lower Qualifications. If you are miles out of Uni and education may be worth looking at foundation or year zero courses, which Sriwri recommended anyway. Â A few of my mates have done it recently, as in got back into education, one's a social worker and the other a photographer is looking to finish her degree in Canada after confirming the modules she has done remain valid.. Â Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 There are loads of shit universities crying out for people so the only entry requirement is being over 17. I don't know how serious you are about particular courses, obviously doing it for da prospects is a bit different to just wanting a few years of easy piss-ups and might require access courses. A mature student gets an easier ride on that though. Your best bet is to think about what field you want to be in, as in a lot of cases there are ways you could work towards it without spending three or four years building loads of debt -- if you're already in stinking debt, though, that's not a problem anyway. Â Were you not going to get into stand-up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members SpursRiot2012 Posted January 22, 2015 Author Paid Members Share Posted January 22, 2015 I'm still doing stand-up, but it's an endless parade of open mic nights. I doubt I'll be making bank from it any time soon. Â Having said I'd like to get away from the media, I was looking at doing a Journalism and Creative Writing degree. It seems like my kind of thing. Ever since I read the book News Junkie, I always thought it'd be cool to be a drug addled newspaper man. Â And yeah, I got a ton of debt. It doesn't matter anymore! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sphinx Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 How's open mic going? I vowed that me and my mate would do separate stand ups on the same night and see how we go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members SpursRiot2012 Posted January 22, 2015 Author Paid Members Share Posted January 22, 2015 Good and bad. My material is shite and I find the London open mic scene a little cliquey but it's fun. Haven't been up since before Christmas though. I may try and do a walk in spot next week in Liverpool Street. I would recommend giving it a go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sphinx Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 London sounds daunting. Did you learn much from your experiences? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members SpursRiot2012 Posted January 22, 2015 Author Paid Members Share Posted January 22, 2015 I learn what sucks (mostly everything) and what works (very little.) Stage time is the main thing right now. Most of the time you're performing to a roomful of other acts so it's hard to get anyone laughing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sphinx Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Do you have a theme or character for your gags? I keep saying about trying stand up (and failing miserably) as some kind of bucket list tick but I want to get a character or theme down before going with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members SpursRiot2012 Posted January 23, 2015 Author Paid Members Share Posted January 23, 2015 I don't think you need a theme or a character for doing stand up one time. Just write down five minutes worth of jokes and go tell them somewhere. Honestly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 The idea of doing a creative writing and journalism degree with a student loan subsidising open mic nights sounds good to me. With that kind of thing, surely it's very portfolio driven as well so starting up a blog and submitting articles to anywhere that might run them would be good for both the university application and the career. I don't know if you already do that kind of stuff anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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