Tag: degree

Education

The Profs Tutoring – University and Beyond!

JayneLeave a comment

As much as I hate to admit it, I’m at an age now where some of my friends have kids of university age and older, so as much as my two are still in the early stages of their education, my friends’ kids are moving on to higher education already. It’s a real eye-opener, seeing all of the processes that they have to go through, from UCAS forms to Uni tours and applications for finance, it’s WAY more daunting than a primary school application and that’s before the work has even begun.

Some of you may remember that I started a degree myself, back in 2010 when Sausage was just 2. I had grand ideas of studying psychology and although I managed to get through my first two courses, the workload got too much once I returned to work, not forgetting the huge hike in fees which happened to treble the cost of my courses. It gave me huge respect for the people who move miles away from home at the tender age of eighteen to do it all full-time and made me realise that there must be kids who need help too.

It never occurred to me before that University students might have private tutors, but that’s exactly what the guys at The Profs do. They’re a University tutors service, aimed at students in higher education, and can help with private tuition, applications, academic consultancy, career advice, writing guidance and everything else a student might need to help them to get through their courses.  The tutors are all trained professionals from top universities, so they know all-too-well the rigours of Uni life and how tough it can be to keep on top of everything whilst dealing with what is most youngsters’ first real taste of independence.

The Profs’ mission statement is: 

A Private tutor can improve your understanding, boost your grades, diminish pressure, and enhance employment prospects!

    • We provide private tuition, academic mentoring and educational consultancy for students at all levels. Our tutors are professional tutors with teaching experience at top universities, schools, and institutions.
    • Our tutors are experts in everything from exam technique to revision technique and we seek to give students the confidence and dedication needed to succeed in education.
  • We have hundreds of educators working with thousands of students in pretty much any subject you can think of. Please, give us a call and see how we can help you.The Profs

With the job market being tougher than it’s ever been, even for graduates, it’s good to know that young people (or even people like myself who choose to go back into education after many years) are able to get the help that they need to enable them to get the best results they can. The cost of tutoring through The Profs are really reasonable given that they are all world-class educators and teachers. Many of them can also work online giving students from all around the world ultimate flexibility in having professional classes, no matter where they are based.

If you’d like to know how to find a tutor for yourself or your child, click on the link above to be taken to The Profs’ website.

Education · Personal

My Education (Or – ‘Unfinished Business’)

Jayne9 Comments

A few nights ago, I had a dream where I was back in senior school (although I think I was an adult) and I was running around the corridors, trying to remember where my locker was as I needed to clear it out before the end of term. In the course of the dream, I bumped into the ‘new headmaster’ (my senior school was headed my a formidable lady when I was there, but is now run by a man), with whom I started to argue.

It was all very run of the mill, but I awoke with a real sense of anxiety that I couldn’t shake all day. I was thinking about my dream later in the day and I realised that I have a lot of dreams about my school days, all of which are fraught with anxiety. In the majority of them, I’ve gone back as an adult, but am studying at the school to try to finish my A-Levels. In several of the dreams, I’ll be doing day-to-day things and then suddenly realise that I forgot to go to school, or that I go to school and realise that I’ve not been there for about ten years and all of my teachers are really cross with me.

If you read my post the other day, you’ll have cottoned on to the fact that I was, rather unceremoniously, asked to leave sixth form after two terms of horrific attendance. I’d met a boy, (who was a complete douche-nozzle, just FYI, but who’s ever managed to convince a 16 year old girl that she’s not in love when she thinks she is?) and had been spending more time at his house than in school. So I left, jumped into finding a job and was gainfully employed within a couple of weeks, but I’ve always wanted to finish my formal education.

In October, I’m going back to the Open University degree that I started in 2010, albeit with a different major. With my Mum now in possession of a degree and Husband and I getting our five year plan in order, it’s given me a kick up the bum to get myself some qualifications, and I’m hoping that it will give me some sort of closure.

Husband and I are the kind of people who believe that we wouldn’t change our pasts if we had the opportunity. We agree that there are things that we regret, to an extent, but if we changed our pasts we don’t know that we’d have ended up where we are now, and we’re both very happy with what we have. However, I know that we both feel that we’re not fulfilling our respective potential and, for me, finally getting my degree might help me to draw a line under my educational misdemeanors.

I think, realistically, it’s taken me this long to realise what I really want to do; at 18, I had NO idea of what I wanted to do with the rest of my life and I was secretly terrified of committing to a degree, racking up tons of debt and then realising that I didn’t actually like what I’d chosen after all. Leaving it until I’m 29 has given me a chance to find out who I am, which really helped with choosing. So, as of October, I’ll officially be on a path to gaining a BA/BSc in Social Policy and Criminology, two subjects that I feel that I can really get my teeth into and be truly stimulated by. My first module is ‘Welfare, Crime and Society’, which I cannot WAIT to start.

So, wish me luck…and let’s hope the weird anxiety dreams become a thing of the past!

Education · Politics · Rant

Too Average for Education.

Jayne14 Comments

Back in 2009, I decided that I wanted to use my experiences with Sausage’s birth to help other people in a similar position. I realised that I probably wouldn’t be allowed to do that without qualifications, so I embarked on some formal education in the form of a Psychology degree with the Open University. Despite not having A-levels, I was able to complete an access course which eased me into higher education and provided me with 60 of the 360 points needed to gain my degree.

I finished the course, passed, and enrolled on more as soon as I could. I started two at the same time, one a 60 pointer and another a short course worth 15 points. As often happens, life got in the way and I decided to quit the 60 point course and finish the short course before taking a break. I’ve done various things between then and now, working for myself, being a lady of leisure, working in a couple of offices, but it’s always been a niggly thing in the background, my unfinished degree so I made the decision to try to get it done.

I went to the OU site, chose a module, registered and waited for the forms to turn up. When I started the degree a 60 point course was, on average, between £650 and £750. This new course I want to do? £2500. And it seems all of the courses have gone up by that much. So, that means that from beginning to end instead of costing between £3900 and £4500, that very same qualification will now cost  around £15,000. Put simply, the cost has almost tripled.

Now, were my household income below the threshold or we were in receipt of certain benefits, I’d get the full amount paid for me. As it stands, I’d get a partial award of around £600 towards my course fees, so I’d still need to find about £1900 for the rest of it.

I’m not saying that I think I’m entitled to a free education, but I really feel like the message is all wrong here.

For a start, I’m 28. Not everyone wishing to embark on a degree is a grown up, most are 18, fresh out of sixth form or college and looking to improve their life prospects. This means that either they take student loans and get themselves in a ton of debt (really not what we should be encouraging, in light of our current economy), work while studying and put more pressure on themselves, or turn to their parents who’ll need to find several thousand pounds to pay for the education, not to mention food and shelter for their children. I feel sorry for anyone with more than one kid at this point.

The fact is that by increasing the fees by this much, the majority of ‘average’ people are simply unable to afford to better themselves. £600 is a help, but I simply don’t have a spare £3800 a year, which means I just can’t complete my course. I have no choice but to remain incomplete, no way of increasing my earning potential, a vicious circle if you will.

All I know is, as much as I try to stay away from politics on this blog, I’m genuinely despairing of this government. It’s patently obvious to anyone who takes the time to notice that the Tories are doing everything they can to keep the ‘lower’ classes in their place (menial labour and servitude, I’m guessing?) by depriving them of a chance to education and we’re just letting them do it.

I’m not condoning the riots, but the people who were rioting were doing so because they felt disenfranchised and abandoned by their country. That was a relatively small group but one by one, the Tories are managing to make other social groups feel that same level of frustration and abandonment. I hate to think what will happen if that, much larger, group decides to take matters into their own hands to make themselves feel listened to.

Welcome to Tory Britain.

Welcome to the Middle Ages.