to ask you what you think of OU Degrees...

[SilverDoe]

Trying to decide what degree to, and will be studying with the OU. I'm struggling to decide between a Law degree and a Business degree, and I wanted to hear some opinions on their degrees in general.

I don't technically need a degree for my dream career, but naturally it would be useful to have one. For context I really want to be PA/EA, so am thinking a Law/Business degree would be most relevant? Please correct me if I'm wrong!

TIA :)

I started on an OU law degree.

Content great, support fantastic. They really are super.

When starting I was told that my eventual law degree would be valid in uk and Ireland- but to go further where I live (roi) I’d have to complete conversion courses for Irish law (bl) and it was really irrelevant to what I’d have to learn in terms of case law to practice here.

I also couldn’t do the home study thing- switching off from everything to study, be it household or children is phenomenally hard.

My advice would be to only do it if you’re sure you can manage it- not if you’re capable of achieving it- just sure if you can manage it.

I couldn’t. I fared far better waiting a few years and going back to uni.

When I was in ou (12/13) they were all tma’s (tutor marked assignments) but as time went on there would have been external exams.

Best of luck OP! I have never regretted going back to education. I think it’s one of the best things to do.

SilverDoe I haven't forgotten you, my colleague has been off sick!

Law is a mixture of essays and "problem" questions, they start off fairly straightforward and then build up to really technical, detailed pieces. The key is condense, condense, condense. The OU are fantastic with law, the materials are excellent and the tutor support is exceptional. It's the one subject that I could rave on about - I've studied courses with all the OU faculties (and schools) and none come close to the law courses.

evilharpy aww thank you! I eagerly await your reply :) I am definitely leaning towards a Law degree I reckon, so will be interesting to hear what your colleague has to say :)

TheDairyQueen thank you, good to know! I was hoping it would be something along those lines :)

Have had a chat to my colleague. He says while obviously a candidate with an Oxbridge degree would be more attractive than a candidate with an ex poly degree for example, an OU degree would be quite attractive in our industry (finance) as we do so many exams that require self-study and you'd have already proved that you were capable of this. Which I hadn't thought of but it is a good point.

Also (again in an industry that doesn't need a particular degree) law would be absolutely fine. No advantage in doing business or something business related. When he was doing his training contract, he says most of the other trainees seemed to have chemistry degrees! Do the degree you're interested in. My colleague's degree was in finance and included some law modules which he says he found very interesting, far more so than the more mathsy stuff.

Hope that helps a bit. I'd love to hear how you get on. You come across as a lovely person and very motivated and I'm sure any employer would be very lucky to have you :)

Also thanks to those of you who answered my question about maths through the OU. It's definitely something I'd think about in a couple of years.