I’m a young mum, how do I get back into education?

It’s great to see that you’re looking to go back into education.

Firstly, it can be very difficult to make decisions about courses and careers, especially as there are so many options and factors to consider. It may be worth thinking about the type of job you would ultimately like to do as a career as this can help you decide what type of course you will want to do. To help you do this, you might find it useful to go on the Work and Study section on The Mix as there are quite a lot of useful articles on there about job profiles and how to find the right career for you.

If you haven’t already, it might be worth contacting your local college or training providers in your area to see if they can send you any information about courses they offer. You could also see if you can talk to anyone there about what you would like to do – a lot of colleges have Open Days which you can go to.

A good organisation to talk to would be the National Careers Service – they would be good to speak to especially if you are undecided about what type of course you want to do. You can contact them directly to arrange this on 0800 100 900.

If you need any funding to pay for the courses then there is a section of the Gov.uk website entitled Education and Learning which you may find useful in regards to funding options available to you. There are grants and bursaries available for adult learners which you can potentially apply for so it is worth contacting the specific organisations to see if you would eligible for funding from them.

It may also be useful to contact your Local Authority and speak to the benefits team to see if they have any information on possible funding that may be available in your area.