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Yes, and thousands of people do. But the honest answer depends entirely on which format you pick, and the four realistic formats differ far more than the prospectuses suggest. Here is what each actually asks of your week.
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An honest answer. If a route is not realistic for you, we say so.
Search this and you land in forum threads, because there is very little clear, current advice written for someone who already has a job, a commute and people depending on them. The question is never really “is it possible”. It is “what does it cost me on a Tuesday night in November”.
A timetabled degree taught on two fixed weekdays at a campus. You are physically in a classroom with a cohort and a lecturer.
Suits you if your work has flexible or shift patterns, and you learn better with people in a room than alone at a laptop.
Study entirely online and largely at your own pace, most often with the Open University. No fixed attendance.
Suits you if your hours are unpredictable or you cannot commit to fixed days. The flexibility is genuine — so is the drop-out rate.
You are employed, and your employer and the government fund the training. You study alongside the job, typically one day a week.
Often the best option if you can get one: you earn throughout and take no Tuition Fee Loan. They are competitive and you need an employer willing to put you forward.
A conventional degree stretched over more years, taught outside standard working hours.
Suits you if your weekdays are immovable. Be realistic about sustaining it for twice as long.
If you also left school without A-Levels, that is a separate question with its own answers — see Study at University Without A-Levels. If you are choosing between an Access course and a foundation year, we compare them on Access to HE vs Foundation Year.
We are not able to place you on one, and we are telling you about it anyway.
On a degree apprenticeship you are employed, you are paid, your training is funded by your employer and the government, and you do not take out a Tuition Fee Loan. For someone already working in a relevant role, that is often a better deal than anything we can offer.
The catches are real: you need an employer willing to sponsor you, places are competitive, and the apprenticeship has to match the role you do. Start at UCAS: degree apprenticeships and GOV.UK: find an apprenticeship.
If that route is closed to you — no employer support, or the wrong sector — the other three formats are where to look.
Be suspicious of anyone who tells you a degree fits neatly around a full-time job. It fits, but it takes the space something else currently occupies.
A rough guide, and it is only a guide:
The people who finish are generally the ones who protected specific hours in the week and told their household what was happening, not the ones who intended to fit it in.
This is where people get caught out, and it is worth checking before you choose a format rather than after.
Part-time and full-time study are funded differently, and Student Finance England decides your position in either case. We cannot, and no course provider can.
What we can tell you accurately:
Check your own position at GOV.UK: student finance, who qualifies and part-time study. Figures and thresholds are published there and change annually, which is why we do not repeat them.
Two practical points that come up constantly:
Some employers will contribute to fees, or offer study leave, or flex your days — and a good number of people never ask because they assume the answer is no. It costs one conversation to find out.
If your course needs two fixed weekdays, that conversation is not optional. Better to have it before you apply than after you have accepted a place.
StudyUKToday is a free admissions support service. We do not charge students.
For UK-based adults we work with a UK admissions partner whose team places students on in-person degree courses taught two days a week at partner institutions in London, Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham. Their courses cover business, computing, health and social care, psychology, construction and project management.
That format suits some people very well and does not suit others at all. If your work cannot release two weekdays, we will say so rather than sign you up to something you will have to abandon in March.
They are a separate organisation from StudyUKToday. If your enquiry is suitable and you tell us we may, we share your name and mobile number only, with your explicit consent, and we will tell you who they are first. Their admissions team and the university make the decisions about eligibility and a place.
Not sure which of these applies to you? Answer a few questions and we will tell you which routes are realistically open — including if the answer is none of them.
Check your optionsYes. The realistic formats are two-days-a-week in-person study, distance learning, a degree apprenticeship, or part-time evening and weekend study. They differ a lot in what they ask of your week, so the format matters more than the decision to study.
A full-time degree is designed around roughly 35 to 40 hours a week including private study, and part-time around half that. Taught hours are the visible part; reading, assignments and revision are the larger part and cluster around deadlines.
If you can get one, often yes. You are employed and paid, the training is funded by your employer and the government, and you do not take a Tuition Fee Loan. The catch is that you need an employer willing to sponsor you and places are competitive.
Yes. Part-time students can apply for tuition fee support, but the arrangements and the maintenance position differ, and funding is usually tied to studying at a minimum intensity. Check your own position on GOV.UK before choosing a format.
Many employers will contribute to fees, offer study leave or flex your days, and a lot of people never ask. If a course requires fixed weekdays, that conversation needs to happen before you apply, not after you accept a place.
Yes, that format exists and is what we help UK-based adults with. It suits people whose work has flexible or shift patterns and who learn better in a room with a cohort than alone online.
Answer a few short questions and we will tell you which routes are realistically open to you. It takes about a minute, there is no application, and it costs nothing.
StudyUKToday is not Student Finance England and cannot confirm your funding. We are not a university and do not make admissions decisions.