Finances

LegacyUser

Ive applied to do a masters in an area of study that ive wanted to do for years. My goal is to be able to incorporate it into my job. Im already qualified in an area related to the masters, this extra qualification will broaden my skillsets, give me the option to set up my own business if I choose to among many other things. Its also a very interesting subject.
My issue is financing this course for the 2 years, I have about 4500 in savings, its been a difficult year financially with the pandemic, I was on a temporary contract which stopped because of lockdowns and I was unable to find work anywhere else. I will be going back to work to complete the temporary contract next week, but ive only got 2 months left, after this I will be unemployed again.
Over the 2 months I plan to save everything I can but with rent, car tax, insurance, NCT all coming up, ill have allot of things to pay for.
The course I chose is in Northern Ireland because the fees are cheaper and I wont have to relocate as I live in a boarder county. I also applied because, when I researched it, the website said the course was part time. I was expecting this to mean one or two placement days and the classes held in the evenings or on a saturday but on further research the course is one full day in college on a weekday and 3 full days of placement. This will make it very hard for me to work while on the course as my job is day time, weekday hours. Ive always had allot of difficulty getting jobs outside the area im qualified in, although I would happily do weekend work in retail or something else, I never seem to get my foot into these types of jobs. This will make it difficult to fund my living expenses.
Because I would be doing it up the north and because its a postgraduate course, I wont qualify for any students grants and there are no scholarships for this particular course.

Doe anyone have advice as to how I could fund this? Thanks.

It's hard to see what kind of advice you're looking for, I think you've identified all your options.
1. Course: You could not do the course, or do a course you might get funding for, or do a cheaper course. I think it's fair to say you're very set on the course you've found?
2. Expenses: You could cut back on your expenses, like renting in a cheaper area or getting rid of the car (I don't know your circumstances so I'm not assuming these are valid options, but they seem to be your primary expenses at the moment).
3. Work: Look for a job that can work around the masters. You have two months in your current job, or until whenever the masters starts. You could also think about asking your current employer if they'd put you on part time to facilitate the masters.

The only think you didn't mention already in your original post is timing - you could try to defer the course until next year and save like mad in the meantime.

If you wanted to give more info about the work you do, posters might be able to give more specific advice of what kind of move you could make to find something that fits around the course.

sparkle109

Can you get a loan through student finance in U.K./NI or put your savings in credit union and take a loan out for what you need?

the14thwarrior

do the course.
apply for jobs, very hard, that you can fit around the college course.
cut down on anything and everything, figure out how much you can live on, and do your best for the next six months. start saving into a credit union, and maybe can get a loan next year.
make it work.
however you can