Mature Students with families

Hi, I'm looking to apply for the Physiotherapy degree at Leicester/Coventry, this autumn. I'm looking for any advice, I am a mature student and mother to a young child and am looking for as much information as I can gather to make sure I can really get the balance between home life/study, I am asking really basic questions here like - are the typical hours spent on campus 9-5, do clinical placemetns follow a similar pattern, I understand it is a hard working, tough degree, how does the workload compare to friends you may have on other courses? Any advice is gratefully received and to hear from mature students in a similar position would be fantastic.

many thanks in advance!

Hi

Im a Mature student of 28. I upped and moved down to Watford to study at Herts. . I couldnt stand the thought of living on campus :). Mondays tend to be the busiest here 0900-1700 (not consistent, you might have a 3 hour block in between lectures/tutorials) but time tables change each semester, and at present they change every week as some modules such as Handling of People are once a term, and our NMS1 doesnt start back up until week 26 :). We're never here till 5 everyday, and some days we start at 1100 which is bliss :), also Wednesdays are very slack days, but most other degrees have this day off. I would say that all together we do about 18-25 hours a week in uni :) I have had one 2 week placement which was set at 0830-1630 mon-fri, basically you have to accumulate hours so the more the better. I think we need 1000 clinical hours :) and the catchment area for Herts is vast so I could end up having to stay away on some placements.

I adore it, and couldnt think of anything else I would rather be doing. But yes the work load is harsh, and many other degrees will not have as many uni hours as us, and as many expected independent study hours, "you are expected to read around the subjects"!. I have a friend of 38 with a 14 year old boy, she as given up her part time job as a pilates instructor for the degree. From a financial point of view I get a good bursary, as I have worked for the past 3 years, and my friend gets about 600 a month from bursaries, so she is well looked after :)


Anyway hope this might have helped. Ii took me a lot to finally pluck up the courage to do it :) Feel free to email me on [email protected] if you have any other questions


Karen

Uni of Herts

Hi,

I am a mature student also and the hardest thing for me was the financial aspect of not being able to work full time.
My loan and bursaries don't cover my outgoings (which are minimal) so i have to work part time during term and full term during holidays. I felt that the extra work affected the quality of my uni work so now i only work one day a week so i have at least 1 day to "rest" on. By rest i mean catch up on house work, social life and any homework that needs doing (theres usually something!)

Clinical placements in the 2nd and 3rd years are very tiring especially if you have to travel far to get to them, but they are extremly enjoyable and you learn so much. The good thing is that the hours will be set: monday to friday usually 8-4 or 9-5 depending on the area (eg in outpatients they tend to work later into the evening whereas community will be more daytime. When in uni the hours really vary as the degree is taught in semesters each semester will differ.

The main complaint from the mature students on my course (apart from the workload) is when scheduled lectures/teaching sessions are cancelled or changed at the last minute, as a lot of us commute to uni its very frustrating to have wasted time like that, also the petrol/traveling expense/babysitting/child care etc..

On a positive note- although it is a bit of a balancing game it goes very quick and if you know that this is what you want from life it will be rewarding in the long term. Future employers will appreciate the extra life experience you have and all the transferrable skills from previous jobs and raising a child.
By the very fact that you will have juggled all these priorities it can only be seen as a very good thing, not everyone can do it and it will make you a stronger person!

Have you done some work experience/shadowing of a physio? This is extremly important as im sure you will already be aware.

I absolutley love what im doing and although it has been erm ....challenging i would not change anything at all!

Sorry if its a bit waffely im supposed to be revising ;)

all the best

Rachel