At 49 am I too old to do a part time IT course at local College?

Rich-Allen1976 · Post by **Rich-Allen1976** » 17 Apr 2025, 17:23

Above.

For some annoying reason, which I'm 75% convinced is illegal ageism, Sheffield College keeps telling me I'm too old for their games design courses down at Hillsborough College (behind Owlerton dog track)

I do have minor experience in game programming, I just suck at digital art.

There's other courses I wouldn't mind doing as well such as programming and audio creation, but again because I'm the wrong side of 40, they keep telling me I'm too old for what according to them, are kids' courses.

Would I be able to do anything?

I am aware of Google and they have Colleges and people my age in America.

Post by **lolin** » 17 Apr 2025, 18:38

i'm of the opinion you're never too old to do anything you want, which includes learning something

idk what their policies are like though

Post by **Ojisama** » 17 Apr 2025, 19:46

It's probably for financial reasons

How would the course be funded?

If you are looking at getting a Student Loan, they may be saying that you don't have enough working life ahead of you to repay it. If you can raise the money privately, they will fall over themselves to offer you a place.

Rich-Allen1976 · Post by **Rich-Allen1976** » 17 Apr 2025, 19:52

Ojisama wrote: ↑
17 Apr 2025, 19:46
It's probably for financial reasons

How would the course be funded?

If you are looking at getting a Student Loan, they may be saying that you don't have enough working life ahead of you to repay it. If you can raise the money privately, they will fall over themselves to offer you a place.

That's probably it, I wouldn't mind but it's not my fault that beyond the voluntary sector I've almost never worked.

Post by **Tuffin** » 17 Apr 2025, 22:25

i dont know how it is over there, but over here there are some grants i got to go to school as an "older" student
since they were grants, not a loan, not paying anything back so job history/status didnt matter
but i have no idea if such things exist or are available in the UK or for these courses
mine were course specific and limited to the engineering course catalog

Knightwalker · Post by **Knightwalker** » 18 Apr 2025, 14:59

Rich-Allen1976 wrote: ↑
17 Apr 2025, 17:23
Above.

For some annoying reason, which I'm 75% convinced is illegal ageism, Sheffield College keeps telling me I'm too old for their games design courses down at Hillsborough College (behind Owlerton dog track)

I do have minor experience in game programming, I just suck at digital art.

There's other courses I wouldn't mind doing as well such as programming and audio creation, but again because I'm the wrong side of 40, they keep telling me I'm too old for what according to them, are kids' courses.

Would I be able to do anything?

I am aware of Google and they have Colleges and people my age in America.

Man, i think age shouldn’t be a barrier, especially when you’re passionate and already have experience. You 100% can do something with game design, especially with your programming background. There are so many online courses and communities now that don’t care about age , you’ve got options

Rich-Allen1976 · Post by **Rich-Allen1976** » 21 Apr 2025, 18:32

Well since I posted this last week, I've applied for a game design course at Doncaster College, although given that it says on the website that the course is aimed at 16 year olds, it'll probably be a hard no.

Rich-Allen1976 · Post by **Rich-Allen1976** » 22 Apr 2025, 15:11

I got an email response from Doncaster Uni this morning, the course is geared towards kids but they accept adult learners, I tried to fill in the application form online but it timed out while I was doing it! I type pretty fast but not THAT fast.