Being A Mature Student...

Theres a big jump from getting a C at A Level and getting a C at GCSE, I'm not trying to put anyone off but I see lots of people who aren't good at maths try and blag it and fall, I'm helping a lad at work who came out of the army to do a foundation degree with his maths and the jump from what he needs to know to what he does now is huge.

You will get there if you put the work in tho

No probs adam, let me know if you need any more help cos I still work in the department.

I went back to uni when I was 24 - best thing I've ever done. A few of our mates have and its all benefited us.

Apart from a handful of sound cunts, most of the people on my course were complete spastics but once you get used to their WAcKiNEss its not so bad.

Definitely a good idea to go back if you think you can afford it and want to do better than your current job but havent got the quals to back it up.

Although dont expect to come away from it knowing loads of stuff, I learnt more about my subject in the first 6 months of doing my job than i did in 3 years of (not) attending lectures.

Not really a shortage of chemical engineers in the UK, I know quite a few finding it hard to get work.

If you only got a C at GCSE maths i recon you might struggle with the maths involved in a degree level engineering course

hence the foundation engineering course that teaches you the relevent maths stuff needed for the further courses.


@ phil, did you still get your grant and that ?

Even so mate, im doing an HNC in mechanical engineering which is a lower level than a foundation degree and the maths is brick.

well ill just have to try me best and do some further maths courses.

Yes but a lot of people mature and change after high school, I hated maths at school but enjoy learning it now.
I agree that anyone should at least do a Foundation Year if they're new to engineering.

It might be worth gettin in touch with companies and speaking to their HR dept to see if they take on sponsorships. Thats how I got my job, I just rang around all the large contractors/QS firms and asked if they took on part time students, i would say about 75% of them had a yearly recruitment drive for graduates and trainees. I ended up getting my job through an agency and work pay me a full time/half decent wage and get 1 day study leave. Its perfect as I am only really at Uni to get my degree as nearly everything I know I have learnt from work.

If you do find a company that recruits trainees tell them you have already enrolled at University, show initiative

You'll find its not the maths which is hard, its understanding the notation and nomenclature, you rarely use numbers after a while, its all letters and relevant subscripts/superscripts which mean various things.

If you stick at it you shouldn't have a problem but don't just expect the course to give you all of the maths knoweldge you need, you will have to study but I expect you know this already

Not sure how it works now but most mature students got an adult learners grant..i didnt because i'd already been to uni when i left school but spent 2 years doing buckets and playing FIFA instead of learning.

I did 3 HEFC's then went to Uni to do Building Surveying - I was 22 when I did the course and 25 when I graduated, as an older student I found because I had been out on the piss a lot prior that I actually give a fuck about doing the degree hence I was more bothered about it rather than your average 18 yr old who joins uni - im looking to go back next year to do my AAT through work

All the apprentices in my work are now doing foundation degrees as the colleges seem to be introducing them instead of the h.n.c and extra year for h.n.d like I done.

Just noticed this thread somehow

Not gonna read all the other comments, but I'm sure they cover everything. For me, I was accepted into 4 out of 5 of the uni's without a need for an interview.. the other one wanted me to attend some sort of meeting. There were some younger people who did need interviews though, but i dont know whether that was because of their age, or because their results from whatever course they did previously were still not confirmed. My course is a lot different to a lot of courses at uni though, focussing on the outdoors (although it's mostly theory.. phychology, geography, leadership etc) so I can't really relate it to much to the course you are gonna choose.

One thing I can advis against is getting shitfaced the night before you move away to uni, then getting shitfaced again when you get there then having to be up at 9am the next day for all the meetings about the course/uni and meeting all your lecturers/peeps on your course. I was as rough as a tramps trainers and only made it to the midway point before having to goto bed and miss the second half of the day.