1. Do it. You won't regret it.

• You may get frustrated with the academic process, or with the attitude of some of the "non-mature" people on the course, but actually it's a good experience to get out of the day job and realise that other people work and think in different ways.

• Definitely do it.

• Be aware that some of the course may seem really obvious, and some may seem irrelevant. Be prepared to stick with it otherwise when you get to a really important and new bit you'll suddenly realise you completely missed some of the background info and have to struggle to catch up! (You can tell that this is written from experience...)

• It will involve time and money sacrifices, but it's only for a finite time, so do it.

• Use your colleagues at work for support. Some will be disinterested, don't let them put you off. Others who've been through it will be pleased to help and will be pleased that you are interested - although they will also get frustrated about how much of their own degrees they've forgotten!

• You will have less free time in the evenings and weekends (assuming that you're trying to do this alongside a day job), so use it as an opportunity to focus on how you really want to spend your free time, and to clear some of the clutter from your life. Good reason to do it.

• Warn your family and friends that you will be very grumpy and harassed each May / June. I wrote my Masters' dissertation at the same time that my daughter was going through A level exams and my son was going through GCSEs. My wife eventually realised that it was best to just stick food and cups of tea in front of us and that we'd eat and drink them at some point...hot or cold. Again it's only for a month or so.

• Having studied for one university qualification at the age of 40 and another at the age of 50 (even though in my case I had my original degree as well) I found it's had a huge impact on the way I do my work. A well tutored course will not just give you new information about your field, but will also make you think about the whole way you do your work - in particular making sure that you're really thinking about where the evidence for your work comes from. Are you doing things because "they just work" or "we've always done it that way", or is there actually a really sound scientific and technical basis for it? And if there isn't, what can you do to make it better? So (and I'm not sure if I've mentioned this yet  ) I really recommend that if at all possible you do it.

• Do be prepared to feel quite old. And to be entertained by the sheer optimism of school leaving undergraduates. Try not to come across as a cynical old buffer - instead try to absorb some of that energy and enthusiasm. Also you'll find that just having your general experience of the world of work means that you'll cope with the nuts-and-bolts of dealing with tutors, finding your way round bizarre university admin and managing your own time much better than the typical undergrad.

• So overall, on balance, all things considered...I think I'd recommend it. 

P.S. I haven't commented on funding since I don't really have experience, having managed to get my employer to finance both my postgraduate qualifications (I do feel for the poster on this issue). But as an idea of how to get this funding: For my first postgraduate course I was really struggling to get support from the company, but then our Swedish Vice-President came over to present an all-employee meeting at which he said (as they always do at such things) "this company is 100% committed to training and developing our workforce". So my manager and I got him to sign the approval there and then while he couldn't back out without huge loss of face!

1. Do it. You won't regret it.

• You may get frustrated with the academic process, or with the attitude of some of the "non-mature" people on the course, but actually it's a good experience to get out of the day job and realise that other people work and think in different ways.

• Definitely do it.

• Be aware that some of the course may seem really obvious, and some may seem irrelevant. Be prepared to stick with it otherwise when you get to a really important and new bit you'll suddenly realise you completely missed some of the background info and have to struggle to catch up! (You can tell that this is written from experience...)

• It will involve time and money sacrifices, but it's only for a finite time, so do it.

• Use your colleagues at work for support. Some will be disinterested, don't let them put you off. Others who've been through it will be pleased to help and will be pleased that you are interested - although they will also get frustrated about how much of their own degrees they've forgotten!

• You will have less free time in the evenings and weekends (assuming that you're trying to do this alongside a day job), so use it as an opportunity to focus on how you really want to spend your free time, and to clear some of the clutter from your life. Good reason to do it.

• Warn your family and friends that you will be very grumpy and harassed each May / June. I wrote my Masters' dissertation at the same time that my daughter was going through A level exams and my son was going through GCSEs. My wife eventually realised that it was best to just stick food and cups of tea in front of us and that we'd eat and drink them at some point...hot or cold. Again it's only for a month or so.

• Having studied for one university qualification at the age of 40 and another at the age of 50 (even though in my case I had my original degree as well) I found it's had a huge impact on the way I do my work. A well tutored course will not just give you new information about your field, but will also make you think about the whole way you do your work - in particular making sure that you're really thinking about where the evidence for your work comes from. Are you doing things because "they just work" or "we've always done it that way", or is there actually a really sound scientific and technical basis for it? And if there isn't, what can you do to make it better? So (and I'm not sure if I've mentioned this yet  ) I really recommend that if at all possible you do it.

• Do be prepared to feel quite old. And to be entertained by the sheer optimism of school leaving undergraduates. Try not to come across as a cynical old buffer - instead try to absorb some of that energy and enthusiasm. Also you'll find that just having your general experience of the world of work means that you'll cope with the nuts-and-bolts of dealing with tutors, finding your way round bizarre university admin and managing your own time much better than the typical undergrad.

• So overall, on balance, all things considered...I think I'd recommend it. 

P.S. I haven't commented on funding since I don't really have experience, having managed to get my employer to finance both my postgraduate qualifications (I do feel for the poster on this issue). But as an idea of how to get this funding: For my first postgraduate course I was really struggling to get support from the company, but then our Swedish Vice-President came over to present an all-employee meeting at which he said (as they always do at such things) "this company is 100% committed to training and developing our workforce". So my manager and I got him to sign the approval there and then while he couldn't back out without huge loss of face!