Age is no barrier to getting a degree: you can study in your 30s, 40s and beyond.
…IN THEIR 20S
If you have taken a few years out to work or travel after school before going to university, it might be a shock to find that it involves a very different style of study.
You might have just one lecture a day rather than the more intensive attention teachers offered during A-levels, so developing the discipline to manage your own workload and get back into the swing of the academic process is a necessary first step.
Many young people now live at home for longer, so even for students in their mid-20s, the first couple of weeks as a fresher can mean feelings of homesickness.
Being slightly older might make this group of students feel they have moved beyond typical fresher activities, so making an effort to integrate through clubs and activities is vital. On the plus side, however, mature students in their 20s are usually more focused on their course because it has been a definite decision to go to university rather than something they have just fallen into.
…AS PART OF A CAREER CHANGE, AGED 30-50, WITH KIDS
This can be the most stressful time to embark on doing a degree, as students will most likely be juggling a host of other responsibilities. The organizational issues can be hard to negotiate. You will need the backing of your whole family because while a degree is hard work for you, it is also likely to involve more work for everyone else.
The guilt of not having enough time to do everything well can get in the way of enjoying your time studying, so people need to think in advance about how they will make time for their children and partner. Planning for how finances are likely to be affected is also a necessity. Having to adapt to a much lower family income is the reality for virtually every mature student.
When it comes to the social life that going to university is famed for, mature students who may well be working at the same time as looking after children and managing a home can easily feel very out of things. Making contact with the mature students’ societies that many universities have can be helpful, as they can provide a peer group of people who share the same outlook, pressures and motivations.
However, it is a really exciting and challenging thing to do at this time of life. Usually people of this age are more disciplined, and if they are making a career change they are incredibly motivated. As an older person studying, you are likely to give it your all, as you are more aware that time is precious.
… OUT OF INTEREST, AGED 50+
Studying for the pure pleasure of pursuing an interest is a luxury, but is perhaps the greatest benefit of starting a degree as an older person. Financially, you may well be more sound, and if you are doing it for fun, you do not have to get the best grades, so there is an enormous sense of freedom.
Getting to grips with an unfamiliar institution can be confusing for older students, and using technology can also cause anxiety. Get a hang of technology by joining introductory technology courses run by local colleges as essential preparation because the study skills sessions offered by most universities are a lifeline.
The confidence that comes with age will carry many older students through some of the difficulties, the most obvious of which is the generation gap between themselves and first years who are still teenagers.
