What it's like to juggle study with a full-time job

But once or twice a week the tables are turned and she is the one being taught in the classroom.

The 26-year-old is part of the team of staff at Summerhill Primary School in Tipton. At the same time, she is also studying part-time for a foundation degree at the City of Wolverhampton College to enable her to become a qualified teacher.

It means Alison is balancing a student’s workload with a full-time job but she says she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I’m loving every minute of it. There is great job satisfaction and I enjoy working towards my degree because I’m learning so much,”says Alison.

She started working at Summerhill Primary School in 2010, beginning as a higher level teaching assistant and has been an unqualified teacher in the nursery spending her days with three to five-year-olds.

From the start of the new term she will be teaching the reception class while continuing her studies with the aim of being fully qualified in around a year and a half with a foundation degree in supporting children in primary education

Alison started at the college four years ago and being a part-time student means she spends around five hours at the Wellington Road campus in Bilston on one or two evenings a week.

On top of this she does an additional five hours of home study and will be working on assignments throughout the year.

When the working day has left her feeling drained, she says going to college in the evening can be challenging but help is always on hand to make it easier.

“It can be difficult because I am working all day every day and then going from teaching in the classroom to being taught myself. It’s more difficult when I am tired.

“But our lecturers are great because they know that we are tired so it’s all very informal and relaxed.

“They know we want to get our degree too and really want to help us to achieve that.

“They are not just lecturers because they really support us and they connect with their students,” explains Alison.

She is one of around 107,000 part-time students across the UK who attend colleges and universities or study remotely from home with the help of online courses.

Her degree course is funded thanks to a tuition fee loan paid directly to the college which she will start paying back once she is qualified as a teacher and earning a higher wage.

Since beginning her studies, there have been a few challenges for the former George Salter High School pupil to overcome.

“I found the first year really difficult and I was trying to do too much because I would work all weekend. But I realised I couldn’t carry on like that and now I will do a three or four hours on a Sunday and a couple in the week.

“When I felt like I couldn’t do it anymore, my lecturers really pushed me on and told me that I could do it. I now know that the first year is always difficult so I’m much happier,” Alison tells us.

She says she would encourage anyone with a passion to follow in her footsteps by combining studying and a full-time job.

“I think to do this, you have to be really passionate about what you are doing and really push yourself but not too much so you burn out.

“We all support each other through it. We all do a range of jobs between us but we are all working towards the same thing. Everyone is very passionate including our lecturers.

“They’ve been out to observe me at work too so it’s not just about what happens when we are at college,” explains Alison, who lives in Tipton.

She says she feels lucky to have found a job she loves and is grateful for the support she has received.

“We are a four-form entry primary school so I think we are the biggest primary school in Sandwell. We have a really good early years team and I have had a lot of support from the school.

“I absolutely adore my job. It’s hard to really describe how much I love it. I love everything about it and there is no part that I don’t enjoy.

“I’ve been working in the nursery so the children are three when they start and I get to see the children thrive all the time.

“I will spend two years with some of the children so I really get to see them develop and learn. They are learning all of the time.

“When they start they are still very attached to mum and dad but then you get to see them change and the progress they make is phenomenal. It’s a very rewarding job,” she says.