Well, that's up to you, really.

Maybe you've decided what you want to do in your career, and might need a specific qualification to do it.

Or maybe you want to do some professional development in your current career.

Maybe you don't need a qualification, but just want to do some study for yourself.

Whatever your own reasons, there are some great places to help you figure out what course of study will be right for you. Some qualifications don't offer the choice, but you could maybe think about a modular course, that lets you start with a foundation qualification to begin with, see if it's right for you, and then specialise later.

Remember as well that there are sources of funding for study. Links below should help you get some good advice and get started...

The Adult Learning page on Direct.Gov.uk has a great page with advice on choosing courses, grants, loans, etc. It's a great place to start if you're unsure how to begin.

The Open University has a load of good information too as to how studying can help you, what courses you can study, and what funding is available. The OU's courses are almost all modular to at least some extent, and it has some great (and cheap!) taster courses, so you can see if you've still got it in you to find the discipline for studying. There are also a few good case studies to show how real students got their degrees. And there's quite a good study planner to help you work out what you want to study, and how long it might take you to achieve your goal.

Learn Direct has some great, free advice, including a free, personalised career guidance service, to help you figure out how to reshape your future. Scotland has its own equivalent site.

And Lifelong Learning has some good themes that pick up on basic skills, financing learning, online learning, and more.

And, if you're retired, U3L (The University of the Third Age) exists just for people like you. You probably don't need qualifications, so they don't give them. It's just about continuing learning, purely for pleasure.

Whatever you're looking for, learning can be an incredibly powerful drug. When you find a subject that really interests you, you can get hooked, and spend every spare minute you have learning about it, researching it, and living it. It's a great feeling when you get it. If you don't get it first time, try something else until you find that subject that really grabs you. Then you'll know what inspires you, and that can lead to lots of work and volunteering opportunities if that's the way you want to go.

And whatever you decide to learn, keep your focus, remember why you're learning it, and above all, enjoy it.