Long time lurker but first time post from me, I felt compelled to reply as perhaps I can offer an alternative insight.
Firstly, you've been given sage advice from a couple of people already. Decide what it is that interests you most and follow that direction.
There is a world of difference between the two course subjects and briefly I will explain them here as I've yet to see anyone else do so.
Carpentry - fundamentally in this day and age, what the word "carpentry" describes is first and second fix on houses. First fix is effectively building the timber parts of a house such as roofs, stud walls etc. Second fix is doing the internal fixtures, for example skirting boards, door frames, fitting doors, etc.
Joinery - joinery traditionally refers to what is now referred to as second fix. In modern parlance a joiner is someone who produces the internal fixtures and fittings for houses, timber windows, doors, window frames, staircases etc.
You've mentioned enjoying the work of both Phil Lowe and Chris Schwarz, both of whom are traditional furniture makers.
They are both fortunate enough to have carved themselves a niche where they are able to make a living from expounding on and promoting hand-tool wood working.
However I use the word fortunate as as much as the majority of professional furniture makers would probably love to be making three pieces of furniture a year using exclusively hand tools, they also have bills to pay.
Now for a bit of that insight I promised at the top of this post:
I signed up for a year-long furniture making course that commenced in September of this year. I have a background in wood-working (I did an apprenticeship as a traditional boat builder nearly 15 years ago) and mechanical engineering but my career took a slightly different path and I wanted to get back to wood-working without necessarily revisiting floaty things as well expand my skill set.
Come November just past, I had dropped out and am now working three days a week with a Cabinet Maker and Furniture maker. While the course had it's interesting moments, it tackled furniture making from a truly academic point of view. Regrettably for the poor tutors, I have enough experience working in commercial workshops (including running my own Boat-Yard for a couple of years) to know that they were setting my fellow student colleagues up for a fall. By this I mean that when my fellow students made it through the course, clutched their NVQ/C&G and if lucky, found jobs in workshops, they might find themselves in trouble because of some of the habits, methods and ideas that were being encouraged in an academic setting.
My advice echos on what I first said in this rather long-winded post. Decide what it is you want to focus on and focus on it. That having been said, I personally would be more inclined were I starting from word zero to do a short course (IE no more than 2-3 days) that will teach you the basic principles of what you are interested in and I'd then tap up every person/business in my immediate area and ask if they are either taking on apprentices or offer my services gratis for a fixed period of time. It might sound crazy but that fundamentally is what an apprenticeship used to be. If you intend to make an actual career out of it, you'll learn far more that is of significantly more use than ever you would on a one or two year course.
Either way, best of luck!
***EDIT for post-script**
P.S. There is a reason people stopped using folding wooden rules, it's because tape measures are quicker, easier and significantly more accurate!
