A schoolteacher wielding a scalpel in an operating theatre sounds unlikely but, thanks to postgraduate conversion courses, dramatic career changes are now common. Intensive courses can fast track graduates into a new area of study, enabling them to change careers without starting again from scratch.

A first degree, even in a completely unrelated subject, provides evidence that the student will have a good idea of the amount of work involved in doing a conversion course and will be able to cope with the academic pressures.

A law conversion course – one year full-time, or two part-time – is the first step to a career as a solicitor or barrister for graduates whose first degree is in another subject. It will bring nonlaw graduates up to the same level as a law graduate, qualifying them for vocational courses to be a barrister or legal practice courses for solicitors.

Nonlaw graduates are in demand by law firms, particularly if they have a background in languages, which are important for firms handling international work, or training in engineering for firms dealing with patents and intellectual property work.

Fiona Cunningham, head of strategic development at Nottingham Law School, says: “The one-year course is extremely intensive. Students have to work hard all the time. They cannot just cruise through the course and swot up at the end.

“Increasingly law firms welcome people taking the conversion route because they acquire employees who are a bit older, more mature, have a wider range of skills and have actively decided they want to join the legal profession and worked jolly hard to do it. We get a wide range of people on the courses but we always have a few medics and a couple of ex-army people looking for a midlife career change.”

The cost of a law conversion course varies widely depending on the university, with fees ranging from a little over £3,000 up to £8,500.

Teaching is a career that attracts many people seeking a complete change, with a steady stream of individuals moving from industry or commerce to train for a job that they judge to be more worthwhile.

Kevin Mattinson, director of postgraduate certificate in education studies at Keele University, says half the students doing the one-year courses are over 25. To meet the Government’s drive to recruit more science teachers, Keele runs free six-month physics and chemistry enhancement courses. These are followed by a year-long postgraduate certificate in education course or on the job training.

Postgraduate teaching students come from many occupations and are frequently in their thirties, forties and fifties. Fees for a certificate course will be a little over £3,000 from next year, with bursaries available.

Fast-track graduate entry programmes for medicine are becoming more common, but students still need to spend four more years studying, compared with the standard five to six years for undergraduate medical students. These courses are intensive and demanding and there is little time to take paid outside work. Whereas some medical schools require bioscience degrees or nursing diplomas to join the fast track, others will accept nonscience graduates.

Similarly, some graduates can gain a nursing diploma or degree by the fast-track route, cutting a year off the normal three-year programme. Dame Betty Kershaw, education adviser at the Royal College of Nursing, says: “There isn’t a list of suitable degrees that enable students to fast track. Universities make their own decisions, but subjects such as sociology and human biology give credits.”

There are no fees for nursing courses and bursaries are usually available for diploma and degree courses in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and at some English universities.

Conversion course allowed chemistry graduate to follow her teaching dream

After Kate Breen graduated in chemistry from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, she drifted into management jobs, first at a charity then working for an insurance broker.

She married and had a son and, although she dreamt of a career change, giving up a job and salary seemed a big step. Then last year she was offered redundancy.

“I was going to look for another job in management but my lovely husband Mark said I should follow my dream and become a teacher.” Breen, 35, enrolled on a six-month physics enhancement course at Keele University followed by a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) course, which she will complete at the end of this academic year.

She says: “The expectation is that you will teach science across the board, so a qualification in chemistry is not enough. Taking the physics enhancement course was the best decision I ever made. It takes you up to the standard of people at the end of their first year of a degree. The PGCE is gruelling, so taking the enhancement course first woke up my brain and helped me to face the academic challenges.”

The Breen family moved south from Edinburgh to Shropshire, selling their home and renting in Wellington. Mark gave up his IT job with the Scottish Executive and found a new one to support his wife in fulfilling her ambition.

Although she received a £9,000 bursary during the physics enhancement course, the couple has had to dip into money from the sale of their home.

Breen says: “Teaching practice is hard because I do not have the right skills yet. My aim is to make a difference to children’s lives – to help some of them to have a better education both academically and morally.”