Basically i'm now blessed with a job that I only work Wednesday, Thursday and Friday……the question is, is it possible to study for a degree in the two extra days I now have off? and has anyone done anything like that??

Well, I'm in the process of signing up for a 2 year MSc getting 2 days off work a month…. it'll only be 75 hours a month on top of the 180 hours at work.

I have just finished a full time degree and I work full time and have two kids…. very hard work but not impossible…. I am in the process of getting a divorce now though!!

Yes, assuming that the lectures/tutorials, etc you need to attend only take place on Monday and/or Tuesday. However, there is no guarantee of that, although you should check with the institution.

You might want to consider an Open University or other distance learning degree.

Good luck – learning is fun.

Yes. I have done so – Mine was a "top up" degree from RGN to Degree – basically the equivalent of two final years. One lecture a week, the rest distance learning . took me 4 years but I did it.

Lots of flexible / distance learning stuff out there. Depends rather what you want to do

Yes – am presently in the closing stages of a part-time MA (writing up dissertation), and until recently was working full-time hours for the NHS. It's been pretty hectic at times, but has generally balanced out well (although I don't have kids or similar responsibilities). Have really enjoyed having the run of university infrastructure, libraries, IT etc second time around – took it all for granted when I was an undergrad! 😳

I got a job as a glass collector at a night club in my first year at uni'. By the third year I was the assistant manager.

I hated uni though I felt being a student robbed me of a legitimate identity and I preffered working for a living. I rarely went for the second year, but did make the effort in the third.

However I've since then done an OU degree and discovered what a proper uni essay should look like and what proper actual study is so I would say that it is possible to do both as long as you are disciplined enough to work really hard and it also depends on how what grade you're looking for. If you're intending to just learn some stuff and maybe get a 2:2 at the end then go for it. If you want a first then that's a full time commitment in itself.

I work at Birkbeck College, London Uni. It specialises in this so everything is mostly evening taught or distance learning – similar to Open Uiversity. The majority of our students are working too – some are successful with uni, some not.

Depends ENTIRELY on what course you want to study and where. My course was 28 hours contact time per week, plus 20+ "homework" hours. There was no way in hell I could do anything other than weekend work and come out with a decent grade. But I know people who did a full time degree and only had 4 hours contact time per week, so I suspect they could hold it down fine.

Yes. My son has 2 kids+one on the way and is in his final year of a civil engineering deg. Full time employment + 1 day at uni

Daughters partner(+son) has done a law deg in the same way as you may.

Easily do-able with the OU.

Yes, its possible.
Especially now that a large portion of degrees are almost impossible to fail no matter how little effort you put into them.

I guess it really is dumbing down when some of the numpties I know have degrees. Not so many years ago they would have struggled to pass the 11+.

Is it no wonder a degree is no longer looked upon as something special?

Is it no wonder a degree is no longer looked upon as something special?

Depends entirely upon your field and employment, that's far too much of a sweeping statement.

the question is, is it possible to study for a degree in the two extra days I now have off?

I'd say definitely if it would actually forward/advance you and you have identified a clear career resulting from it or it'd help you be promoted etc in your current field.

Paying out money for 'I've always fancied studying History' isn't worth it IMO.

Plus the Uni chicks will see you as past it.

b_man:
I have just finished a full time degree and I work full time and have two kids…. very hard work but not impossible…. I am in the process of getting a divorce now though!!

Hopefully you were studying to be a solicitor then 😉

Like people have said it depends on your degree, I was averaging 45 hours a week + homework for my BSC. Was living with a bunch of English students who had something like 5 hours of lecutres a week.

Paying out money for 'I've always fancied studying History' isn't worth it IMO

From a straightforward career POV, maybe so… but there's nowt wrong with 'studying history' for its own sake.

For my first degree we only had 6 hours of lectures a week, but 40 hours of studio + as long as it took to get the projects done (ie about another 60 hours a week) – we usually managed to get out to the pub for last orders a couple of times a week though…

As above, depends on the degree, I did an engineering degree and was in lectures 18hours a week, labs for 10, and on top of that there was writing up the labs and deperately trying to get my head arround the lectures.

As a guide, it takes 2x as much time outside of lectures as it does in them IME.

but there's nowt wrong with 'studying history' for its own sake.

Totally agree. However you go into it knowing what its going to give you- intrinsic or other.

However you go into it knowing what its going to give you

Aye – I have no illusions about the value of my MA in the, uuhh, real world. But it's done me good. 🙂

didnt give me grammar or spelling tho!

I'm currently reading for a BA with the OU and working full time. On target to complete the open ,BA within 3 1/2 years and the Hons within a year of that, depending on course start times.

Depends on your commitment. On my undergrad degree those who worked generally got one grade lower than expected. The only exception being a couple of mature students.

Depends on the course and your commitment

I did a four year part time course while working full time – employers paid for 3 out of the four years. It was relatively easy – the first two years I was just over the grade for a first.

Three bits of advice:

1) Ensure that your other half is 100% behind your effort, why you are doing it, what you intend to get out of it. You will both have to commit to it.

2) Don't arrange to get married at the end of your first year.

3) Don't have a baby at the end of your second year.

Studying and working I could cope with, but doing both with a baby/toddler in the house and very little sleep was a bit more problematic. In the end I missed out on a 2:1 by 1-2% points, which in the current climate makes my efforts and my degree worth pretty much naff all!