Mature students and students with families
The fact is that mature students can have problems every bit as serious as younger people and because they’re often different problems — involving, say, getting back into studying, childcare, marital problems, home ownership, benefits claims and so on — they need a different kind of support from other students.
Many universities have made a point of catering for mature students — although that doesn’t necessarily mean that they provide any better for their welfare — but the sheer numbers mean that many of their problems don’t come as such a surprise to welfare advisors.
Many universities have a mature students association, which is a start, and crèches and nurseries are quite common but standards, availability and cost all vary. Some don’t take very young children, some are hugely oversubscribed and some aren’t open for long enough during the day.
Last updated on: 01 May 2008