To ask opinions on open university degrees

[Willbob]

I have already been to a traditional university. I'm now a sah mum due to my youngest having complex needs. I love to study. I'm thinking of taking an OU degree in law as I'm hoping it may be helpful with the endless fighting for ds. Ou is cheaper and offers good flexibility. Can I ask opinions please on the OU? If you're an employer, do you take less stock in ou degrees or see them as a positive due to the dedication and organisation of those taking them? If you've taken an ou degree how did you find it? What support did you get? Would you do it again if you could go back? Any info or insights would be great please.

I did an OU degree in English literature. I loved the degree, but I did it in 3 years (ie doubled up on modules), which meant it was pretty intense at times alongside working a full-time job. It's not for everyone, you need a lot of dedication and willpower to get through the work without more formal structure to push you along. Personally I preferred that and never attended the optional tutorials, though I always found my tutors friendly and approachable.

Work-wise, my degree has never been spoken of or treated any differently to any other degree. My experience though is that having a degree is so commonplace these days that in a lot of roles it's more a case of have or haven't you got one than them caring very much where from or what it was in 🤷🏼‍♀️

Overall I look back fondly in on my time with the OU and found the course materials interesting and well put together. I'd highly recommend it if it's a subject you're interested in.

There are several OU threads that you might find useful if you search.

All of my module content is online, this is both good and bad, they have imbedded videos and interactive activities and it's easy to search for info you need for assignments but staring at a screen for an extra 16+ hours a week after work isn't great and the ebook versions are obviously missing all the interactive bits so you have to go back and redo those bits.

My experience for science ou degree:
Module 1 Level 1 is easy, GCSE level and to get you back into the swing of studying.
Module 2 Level 1, a lot more content and more A level contentand year 1 uni. Both level 1 modules have lots of self reflection questions so easy to pick up marks for assessments.
Modules 3 and 4 Level 2 expectations seem similar to first two years of normal uni, more independent research required, some group work which was conducted over a wiki and through the module forum.
Level 3 I'm about to start, appears more independent research based.

Assessments
Generally 5 assessments per module then a bigger one or exam at the end.
My last unit each assessment was worth 12% and then the last was worth 40%
Previous units the have been worth 10% and 50% for the last one and on one awful module the assignments were only worth 3% which was massively time consuming for such a small amount and the rest was made up by the exam.

Support
There is support available, I haven't particularly used any though. There are various forums both for your tutor group and for the subject. You can contact your tutor some are better than others at responding.

In terms of value to employers, I was encouraged down this route by mine, they give me study days and lots of other staff members are also doing them

Would I do it again? Probably, I'm bored of it now, I've been promoted at work since I started it and find it a lot harder to juggle work and the content and it's more a means to an end right now.

The OU offer free courses through Open Learn, they are excerpts of current or old courses and will give you a good idea of the presentation and what the content is like.

I'm starting one in October!

I wanted to do history, but was put off by OU itself. Unless I have plenty of time and money to do it as a hobby, it's not worth it.

I did an OU MA. It was guided reading rather than teaching, but it got me a place on a course at a brick uni, that I wouldn't have got on without it.

From an employer perspective...

In general, I tend to view OU qualifications as at least as good as those from mainstream universities. To be honest, I tend to be MORE impressed by OU qualifications than by those who simply went to Uni after school as part of the education treadmill.

To do an OU qualification frequently means you are balancing the demands of a "normal" life PLUS doing the qualification itself. As such, it speaks a lot to the dedication and time management skills of the person who got it.

Oddly, though, this is from a person whose learning style would find the OU incredibly difficult to use. I need a classroom and other people to bounce stuff off. While there are meetups and some tutorials, I find not enough to engage my brain. Sitting reading/studying is not my normal style!!

How much do OU courses cost?

I am about to start an OU degree in mathematics. Like you, I've been to a traditional uni.

I actually thought about law at OU! The only thing I read was that the big firms may be a bit snobbish about it and also that traineeships as a solicitor and more so as a barrister are extremely competitive.

There are other routes into law, if you are interested. You can do a law conversion using the degree you already have. You would probably get a student loan for this, which would obviously save you the fees. You can also train as a legal executive, which is similar to a law degree. Apparently the big firms are a bit snooty about these too, but at least you wouldn't be down circa £20k of your own money? Just my initial thoughts.

Generally, I don't think OU degrees are looked down on. But I believe law is a very specific industry, if you are intending to get job in law that is, rather than just studying out of interest.

They're not as good value as they used to be, I think there was some govt intervention about ten years ago regarding their fees as you used to be able to do a degree for about 10% of the cost of a normal brick uni - a 30 credit course would cost about £600 back when I started my degree and when I finished they had started introducing the new fee structure, which was frightening, but in comparison to the cost of a physical uni now I think it's about 2/3 of the cost. So still good value but very much not the arena of hobbyists and the retired in the way it used to be years ago.

I've never had anyone turn their nose up at my OU degree, as others have said it's always been more of a case of 'do you have a degree?' yes/no, rather than bothered about where it's from or what subject you did. It might be different in the professions.

Good luck though, I do think the OU is a marvellous institution.

DH and I both have OU degrees and they have really opened doors for us. We have found that employers value our degrees highly because we have done this whilst being fully employed and we also had a young family. My currently employer told me that this set me apart from other candidates.

I did double up like a PP for one year and it was so intense, I decided not to do it again.

I attended some local gatherings and went to Paris for one event which I loved.

I am currently doing another degree (as chosen by my employer) and then am planning to do a MA with the OU, for fun. DH is also keen to do one.

I would say, go for it! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

I'm about to start my 4th year of my course in Psychology. I love it. It's a lot of work and I get a bit stressed when assignments are due (I'm also supposed to have an exam next June, haven't had one of those in 20+ years.) I love that I can take it at my own pace and do extra work when appropriate but then can skip a week if I have a lot on. I get my books early and the course website opens in September even though the course doesn't officially start until October, so I'm usually about 3 weeks ahead from the beginning.

It can be pricey depending on where you live, I'd especially recommend it to people in Scotland as my course fees are £1000 per year but I get a grant so don't actually pay anything.

I can't speak for future employment, but if you want to do law just because of I'm thinking of taking an OU degree in law as I'm hoping it may be helpful with the endless fighting for ds. rather than use it career wise, you might be better off buying few family law books tbh... Mainly because, I don't know if OU is different in this, the unies don't guarantee modules like this.

Thank you all for the feedback.

@SchrodingersImmigrant, I appreciate what you are saying but as with most men posts there is more to it. I've found I quite enjoy the research that goes with it and I understand it quite well (i think). Looking af the legislation doesn't intimidate me. I'm also thinking it would help with pre action letters and such if I can do them myself and in doing so may make life easier.

I had considered taking maths as my last course (a little under 20 years ago) would fit nicely with this.

Thank you all again, I will have a good read of previous OU posts but you've made me feel quite positive about it.

If you are enjoying it, go for it. It does open door for more jobs than just law. It is a hard course so you need to know you want to do it. That's the only reason why I mentioned to rather just buy books.