To ask if anyone who has used their Psychology degree..?

[laurzj82]

I am hoping to do a degree in Psychology (although not sure what I want to do with it yet!)

I need to study by distnace learning and have been considering the OU one as it is BPS accredited. Have found a couple of others who also offer a distance learning option. OU is a heck of a lot cheaper but will it be as respected and would I be considered if I went on to do a Masters or further?

Help! Unfortunately I wouldn't be able to study on campus (nearest is Essex) for a few years due to childcare issues. I'm already 35 so would like to get cracking!

Thanks in advance for your help

I graduated over 10 years ago I've worked in a children's home where it came in handy but was the only member of staff with a degree and I now work as a ta in a school where again the child psychology comes in handy but it's not a necessity.

Oh lord reading this is worrying me as Ds is starting psychology at Bristol from sept this year. I really thought hed chosen something quite 'vocational'

I really enjoyed doing my OU psych degree. I think it is respected enough and you can certainly progress to masters etc if you want. All the best x

One thing you do need to be prepared for - all the people who say "Ooh, can you read my mind then?" when you tell them you're studying psychology : )

I'm on the final module of an OU psychology degree. I started it out of interest, and because it tied in with a project I was doing at work, but only thought I'd do a couple of modules. Lot of people I have met have gone on to do Masters at brick universities. One of my tutors also told me that I'd stand a good chance of getting a training contract as a clinical psychologist because of my work/life experience.

All the course materials have been revamped over the last few years and - something to be prepared for - there are now far fewer face to face tutorials and no summer schools (the OU say it's because students weren't turning up to tutorials - which is my experience, I've been at tutorials with only one or two others out of a possible 60).

oh yes missbishi

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My relative did it (at Oxbridge - exp. p) and has practised since. Good career. Chartered psychologist, private practice etc.

I'm three months away from finishing my BSc psychology with the OU. It can be isolating but there are some fab Facebook groups for the modules. It's also a lot of hard work, especially at the moment as the degree is being rewritten so a lot of the modules are on their first run and have a few kinks to work out. This shouldn't be a problem for you if you haven't started yet.

Quite a few of those on my module last year have finished their degree and gone on to study their masters at brick unis this year, some have even gone straight to PhD level.

You do have to be very motivated to study via distance learning. Although you have a tutor to contact and some face to face tutorials you're largely on your own. You get your text books/media discs sent out and a module website with weekly study tasks and have a module forum. Other than that it's up to you to get the work done in time to hand in assignments.

Yes. It involves a lot more statistics than people expect. I work with senior people whose numeracy skills are appalling so it's given me credibility having that background. And having an evidence based, questioning approach is valuable in many jobs. My degree gave me a good grounding in various general skills for the workplace; I learnt my vocation on the job. If I'd studied something vocational it'd be out of date now. I guess I'm biased, but when I'm recruiting I do look favourably on psychology graduates as I know they've had to compete for a place at university and have tended to be logical, organised thinkers with good people skills.

I have a degree in Psychology. For a long time I thought I had picked the wrong course, as I didn't need it for any of the jobs I had. However, I'm now training to be a Play Therapist and I needed my degree to get on to the Masters course. It's not an end in itself, but it does lead on to other possibilities.

Psychology is one of the most competitive career pathways if you, for example, want to be a clinical psychologist. After finishing your Psychology degree you will be a member of the BPS which counts for... not much. You can get assistant psychologist jobs which (in the NHS) are usually band 4 but these are extremely competitive and in my experience often fixed term contracts. For the Clincial Psychology doctorate, one uni around here had 300 applicants per one place on the course. I know people that are experienced, qualified assistant psychologists with years of experience who have applied 5+ times for doctorate degrees in and haven't got them.

Yes, been a chartered psychologist for almost 20 years. Love it still.

I did a degree as normal after my a-levels but then in my 30s (disastrous degree/career choice with first one) went back to do psychology degree with OU whilst working. The quality of materials etc was far superior to my first degree. After some voluntary work I went on to do PhD in clinical psychology (qualified 12 years ago now) & was almost a bit apologetic about my OU degree compared to everyone else until my course director called me out on it one day & pointed out that OU degrees just as valid as any other & showed greater determination etc. Since then I've always been pretty proud of the OU & still see some of the people that wrote the course materials speaking about their work etc in the press. It was a really good experience, but hard work, and a little isolating although that meant we valued the tutorials & occasional summer schools even more. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Another "no", from me.

Yes am an Educational Psychologist. Degree, PGCE and doctorate. Work for a Local Authority and privately. Also very competitive but lots of career choice once qualified.

I did my psychology degree with the OU and used it. First as an Assistant Psychologist in the NHS, then as a researcher at a university. I'm now back at uni studying medicine and still finding it useful.

Ds did a philosophy degree and a masters in psychology. He may be unusual in that he didn't want to be a clinical psychologist but does want to train in other fields such as counselling and CBT. Unfortunately it's expensive and competitive. I think he will get there.

In the meantime he's working in a very people focussed area for a charity and until he can action his training he's planning on developing his skills in the charity sector.

It's the kind of degree that is well respected and can lead into many different professions.

So long as your degree is accredited and you get a good enough pass there is nothing to stop you making good use of an OU psych degree. I finished mine last year and decided I've had enough of study for now. It has led me to a related job though where I can use many of the skills I learnt. The Facebook groups are a must though. I've made friends irl with people I met via them.

Me too @tinyterrors

Are you doing DE300?

It's been useful in some ways as I've ended up in mental health social work but tbh if I were to start all over again I'd do something else (probably go straight into social work). I work in a MH hospital now and we employ a huge number of psychology graduates as Health Care Assistants on a low wage. I'd advise anyone thinking about it to really, really think about their post qualifying plan and try and get some contacts and work experience in place well before graduation.

I run a masters programme in psychology. Yes we accept OU degrees (2i and above). Not all of our BSc psychology graduates use their degrees but very many do. Go for it!

Quite a few graduates work as HCAs to get their experience for applying for the clinpsyD - it's better to get this as a student if possible, which sets you up better for a paid research assistant / assistant psych job after graduating if this is the route you want to follow.