I've decided to go back to higher education

The Craig said:
Is biomedical sciences not a pretty tough area to get a job? Are you planning to go into medicine after this degree?
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Yeah biomedical scince is often used as a "didnt get the grades for a doctor so doing thia to top them up).

My brothers missus has a degree and a masters in it and has just finished a phd. Shes 29 and never had a job from the degree
 
Thanks all for your responses and your feedback, it's good to see that so many of you have retrained or are in the process of training, it took me two years to come to this decision and I'm glad I pulled my finger out, stopped procrastinating and made this decision.

As I was growing up, I wanted to be a Hotel Owner, a Vet, a Doctor, a Car Designer...so many different things. But I was never a straight A student, so becoming a Surgeon/Doctor is probably not an option for me, but I can certainly get into research or microbiology.

OU would have been a good option - but I couldn't see a Biology degree listed - but they probably add to the list of available courses on an annual basis. If the course was available, I would have stayed on in my job and cut my hours slightly, but I couldn't see that as the time I was going through clearing. A shame really, it's the perfect arrangement for those with mortgage and family commitments.

From a career perspective; I intend to do Microbiology, Research in Immunology or Genomics, or perhaps become a University Lecturer.

I have a few other options if I'm prepared to spend the time studying - for example there are 4-year accelerated courses in Dentistry available if I get a 2:1 or higher (I want to aim for a First - hopefully doable now as a mature student, who has a better idea of what he wants to get out of the degree than I did 12 years ago) and I believe becoming a General Practitioner is an option too.

After I finish the degree (I've requested a year in an Industry Placement, so I'll be studying for 4 years in total) I can do an STP which is an NHS assessment - and will allow me to do Microbiology and some other NHS jobs.

The research/Lecturer options only become available to me after completing all 3 years of my PHD.

MookJong - Sadly I didn't stay on Fraser Island - I wish I did - I had a day tour on it, but I got to see a lot of it. If you do think of something you like the sound of though - age should not be a limiting factor - it's never too late - you can do it :)


Dynix - I would love to be a Pilot. I had a few lessons and it was all very natural (Flight Simulator probably helped with that haha) if I ever had the income and I was really happy in my job, I would probably go for my PPL, not sure if my eye sight would impact that though.

The Craig - Biomedical Science is apparently tougher to get a career in than Biological Science - I guess it's something to do with going into Medicine and the pure competition. Apart from my lack of a Science A-level, that also was a factor that made me decide to go for Biological Science with an Industry Placement. I'm not sure if Microbiology, Immunology or Genomics comes under the same umbrella as being a Surgeon or Doctor, but I'll get to work with Surgeons or Doctors on an indirect or direct sort of level, which I'm actually looking forwards to. If I was a straight A student, I could have gone down the Medical School route, but I've also really liked the idea of doing something amazing in Immunology or Genomics. When I compared Biomedical Science and Biological Science, the modules were pretty much the same - however Biomedical Science includes specialist Blood Science modules in Haematology and Transfusion. I may be able to go into Healthcare Science with a Biological Science degree though.

nine_tails - I wish you the very best with your next decision - it's a really big deal and you'll figure it out :)
 
Tefal said:
Im thinking of starting the OU next year.

Cant afford to quit my job but it would be good to get my degree and it would open up a lot of career paths.

Would do engineering.
Could have it done before im 35
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This is what I'm doing. Got the book for the first year already. I can have it when I'm 38 so not too bad really.
 
Diddums said:
This is what I'm doing. Got the book for the first year already. I can have it when I'm 38 so not too bad really.
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Final salary pension is my motivator.

Need to get the basic rate up for when i retire while creaming the shift rates when im young lol
 
Yep.

I’ve gone back to study for an economics and business degree and I’m 36. Finishing my 2nd year soon. And as I said on here previously, I’m one of the younger students in the class. Bit strange at first but now I’m fully marinated back into the learning culture and it’s much easier. I think I’ll always be studying something or another. At the moment I’m considering enrolling into a basic woodwork and joinery course, or a basic mechanics course. Not that I have any designs on working as a mechanic or joiner, but purely for ‘fun’ and to learn something totally new. It’s unreal how accessible study and learning is these days. When I done my first degree you had your text book and a bit of internet. No Youtube or fancy sites with just about every subject under the sun. I done a Maths course on Khan Academy which I can near enough use for 1st year engineering mathematics.

Anyway, good on you. You’re never ever too old. My 60yo mother is considering doing a diploma, went to an open evening and said there were people older than her there considering studying again.
 
MookJong said:
I probably should have done something similar but at 37 I think it's too late now so go and live my dream!
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My endocrinologist went to medical school at 39-40. Prior to that she worked as a receptionist her whole adult life.

So, you still have a whole 2-3 years of taking it easy before you can start changing things. Or you can stop thinking you've left it too late (at 37 you still have another 30 years of work left) and start now.
 
Did any of you guys going back at 35+ use all your LEA funding the first time round?

With the crazy 9 grand per term fees I wonder how anyone can self-fund, if that's what you're doing.
 
Gamefreak501 said:
Hi everyone,

This might be a bit of a long post!

About two years ago, around about the time I left work for some much needed time off, my mind was in disarray with regards to what I really wanted to do with my life.

I decided I should do some travelling - having decided to spend some time in Australia. I went down the East Coast - it was a part of the World I had never been to in my entire 29 year life and I guess I wanted to be as far away as possible from anyone and everyone I knew so that I could maybe decide what to do with myself. Of course, spending time in Europe, Africa, America or India would have probably provided the same sort of outcome but I just didn't fancy it.

I ended up spending 5-6 weeks there. I would have spent longer if I hadn't ran out of my budget and I had got my tax number sorted out in time (in Australia, you need a bank account and a tax file number in order to work, as well as a relevant Visa).

I met some wonderful people from all walks of life and saw some of the most amazing sites I probably won't get to see ever again (unless I decide to go back for longer perhaps). Places like Fraser Island, the Blue Mountains, the Great Barrier Reef.

Two people I met in Sydney were from America; they went through Medical School and were awaiting their residency. We spoke a lot about medical matters - a lot of which I thought I had forgotten about - having had an interest in science in school some 15 years previously and reading the odd journal or article about the latest medical topics most recently - but unfortunately I took a different path during my educational years.

Back then I was naturally good at IT, I even went to University, but after two years, I just lost interest. I spent the next 10 years of my working life in the IT areas, not really getting noticed or getting any promotions. I was a Network Engineer, I did Technical Support, Helpdesk, Web Design; all sorts. Yet something was still missing.

Fast forward to December 2014 when I came back from my travels, I spent the next two years trying to fit back in to IT. However whichever job I took, it was still the same thing wrapped up in a different package - helping others with their hardware/software issues, sorting out network configurations etc. but it still lacked fulfilment and job satisfaction.

So with the year now being 2016, I've decided to take matters in my own hands. I went through clearing and through College to put me on the right path to Biomedical Science.

Unfortunately, even though I was accepted into University; my application was later withdrawn citing a lack of A-Levels in Science. I guess the poor choices I made in my Sixth form years decided to bite me backside once again and have the last laugh.

Not feeling too disheartened or defeated, I have since decided to go down the Biological Science route instead; I don't need to take any foundation years and crucially I will be starting in a few weeks and will be able to study topics such as anatomy, biological chemistry, genetics, physiology, pathophysiology, biotechnology, immunology. Which are all very interesting.

I am feeling excited and anxious though - it's been 12 years since I was last in University education, I have given up a fairly well paid full time job in IT, I will have to make a lot of sacrifices to get me through the next 3 years of education, but I feel like the time is now; and at 31, if I leave things any later, I will just prolong my misery. Definitely can't see myself doing IT into retirement!

I guess anything is possible!

Have any of you made a big decision about your future career/education prospects? How has the outcome been? Would you ever go back to the life you had before?
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Recently enrolled at Uni myself at the age of 32. Part-time but funded by my employer, will be doing an Engineering degree.
Just hope my maths skills are still working ok, my GCSEs were the last time I did any serious maths.
 
Someone I worked with retrained as a doctor at the age of 35. He didn't have the right A-levels either despite working in software. It was fascinating hearing about what he'd been up on his A level chemistry evening lessons.
 
I took redundancy from BT at the age of 43 after working there as a technician for 19 years. I used the money to support myself through three years at Uni, and now a few years later I'm an IT manager - one of the best decisions I've made.
 
MookJong said:
I probably should have done something similar but at 37 I think it's too late now so go and live my dream!
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If you're talking about education (not going to Australia) then nonsense. You've got decades ahead of you. You could get a degree in a few years. Or a masters in two if you already have an bachelor's. You can do it with the OU if you want to hold down a job at the same time as well. In three years time you probably wont feel much different as a person than you do today right now, probably wont have substantially a different job, etc., unless you make a conscious choice to change direction. In three years time do you want to be pretty much the same as where you are or does the idea of having a new degree or qualification opening new paths appeal to you? Do you want your forties to be a slow degradation or a new phase? Learning stimulates the mind like nothing else. It's why when you're a kid everything seems stimulating and summers last forever, and why as an adult you blink and six months has gone by - it's because the human brain measures things by change, not time.

OU sign-ups are at the moment, they have a second uptake wave in the Spring. Other universities have other options.

Here's a link to get you started:
BSc., BA, Diplomas, Masters, Phds. Lots of options and easy to just grab one module to get a taste for it and see how the time goes.
http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/atoz

Never, ever too late to learn. Do you want the next couple of years to be the same as right now or different? A prospectus is free.
 
wozzizname said:
I took redundancy from BT at the age of 43 after working there as a technician for 19 years. I used the money to support myself through three years at Uni, and now a few years later I'm an IT manager - one of the best decisions I've made.
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Interesting as I'm currently 43 and took redundancy last year, was looking at going into education and taking an electrician or plumbing course as I'm sick of IT, but I got quite a good paying contract land at my feet for 3 months.

We'll have to see what happens at the end of the 3 months but might take a night course on.
 
Best of luck OP, hope it all works out. It's great reading the responses here, gives me some hope!

I'm almost in a converse situation, studied Medical and Pharmacological Science, became jaded with it in second year, decided to finish anyway. Got a 2:2 as I just didn't care. Now an Office Manager at a Biotech company and wondering what I want to do. I kinda wish I hadn't gone to uni and done something practical such as plumbing, but I don't regret the experience.

There's just so much possibility out there, I don't know how people make their minds up!
 
Your never too old to make a change of career. There was a guy in my school who became a qualified pilot at 41 and ended up getting hired by an airline despite everyone telling him he was "too old" to be a pilot.

An uncle of mine became a bus driver at 55 despite only knowing how to work as one thing his whole life in an area that had nothing to do with driving passengers around on a bus.

I personally love watching this video

 
Never to late to consider further education.
About 5yrs ago I decided I was going to do a degree. I was 35 and had never been to university. Went the Open University route, held down a full-time job and studyed whenever I could.
A couple of months ago I got my final mark for my final exam and I was awarded a 2:1 BA (Hons.) Business Studies
It really is a great feeling when you go back to it, decide to really go for it and end up with a result.
 
I was stuck in manufacturing hell for the first decade of my working career. Now after four years and time spent in college studying engineering, at 33 I will be embarking on a career in lecturing, undertaking a cert ed while working as a technician at the same college.

I wish I'd studied engineering earlier, but as others have said, it's never too late!
 
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