to be irritated by being asked by my FIL

[LadyGlencoraPalliser]

whether my OU degree will count the same as one from a real university.
It is a real university FFS.
Am tired of patiently explaining this to patronising twunts who clearly do not believe that the OU is not some sort of dodgy degrees by post option.

They probably do pisces, but they are perpetuating a myth. Why play along with it?

So did I, georgiemum I was flabbergasted when she told me where she went to uni...

My dad is the manager of a large hospital and he also told me that it makes very little difference when it comes to who he appoints....

They sound awful Lady, what a nightmare. OU definitly a proper degree from a proper and well respected university. I do think that turning all the polys into university actually had a negavite effect on the perception of them tbh. Pisces the Bristol student would have much better Alevels and GCSEs than the Luton student but they both would have had to work hard for their first.

And when you have been working a few years it doesn't matter at all.

And when you have been working a few years it doesn't matter at all.

LOL at posters who claim that all degrees are of equal value/standard for the same class of degree, whatever the institution.

The word to describe your sentiment is denial.

I think you will find that a degree from LSE will open more doors than the equivalent from Hull. I am utterly amazed that anyone can think every institution below Oxford and Cambridge is equal!
I am not perpetuating a myth, laweaselmys. My DS wants to do what is a fairly new subject and I have been to quite a few open days and talks, some have impressed me and some haven't. It has been quite obvious that he could get a 'good' degree at some (if he put in the work) but they wouldn't be equal to the ones he has chosen and most likely future employers wouldn't be impressed.

To a point, BonsoirAnna. There is actually a perceived difference amongst employers between degrees from institutions established pre-1992 and those established post-1992 (in the latter case, these are former polytechnics). Any pre-1992 institution is a fairly safe bet, especially if it is in the Russell Group.

Oxbridge degrees have elite status mainly because they take in very bright students to start with, so it's like hiring someone with an IQ certificate plastered to their chest.

However in many cases the degree courses at Oxbridge and elsewhere have similar content and standards - I know this partly from my research, and partly because I happen to have run degree programmes both inside and outside Oxbridge, and in each case I expected the same of my students. The main difference seemed to be in Oxbridge you got more small group teaching, because of the college system, and the associated additional funding each student receives from the Goverment.

There is also an external examiner setup across all universities whereby people check each other's degree standards. Ours is a senior Oxbridge academic and very experienced, and he reckons our standards are the same as theirs.

I'm doing law with the OU, and someone in my lectures asked if he would be better off transfering to uni, and the honest answer was no.. The OU pick the best teachers in the uk, and OU degrees are often highly regarded on a par with Oxford and Cambridge.. I have been told this maaaany times.. My mam has an OU degree, my Dad does, I'm in the process and so if my DP..
YANBU.. im sick of having to explain to people about it.. lol.. Good luck with your degree

LSE takes so few home students now it's hardly worth applying. You are better off applying to Oxbridge frankly.

I should add that there is some variation in reputation depending on the actual subject, which needs to be taken into account as well if the job you are applying for directly relates to the subject studied.

Some OU courses have outstanding content and for things like psychology and law you can do no better.

So I guess they are of equal standard, but not equal value.

Sort of. There's been a lot of brand building on the part of Oxbridge over the years, which has pushed the elite status thing further than perhaps it should have done - given our population size, we might have been better making sure there were 8-10 seriously elite institutions in England alone rather than just 2. Also we are hampered by a bit of snobbery in this country. We love the Harry Potter look and the whole jeunesse doree thing of Oxbridge, let's face it.

LGP funny you should raise this one. Suggest you take a look at this link and maybe forward on to your FIL. It's not where you study that seems to matter so much as this....

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/677569-University-degrees-and-their-connotations

My DS isn't applying to top universities, he is applying to ones that have a good reputation for his subject, and having been to the talks I can see why.
I am having great trouble with the idea that they are all equal. If they were, an A'level student could take it really easy, get D and E grades to get in somewhere like Thames Valley. At that point they can do the work and get the first class degree and it would be equal to Durham, Bristol, Imperial College etc!!! It doesn't work like that-surely BonsoirAnna isn't the only person to agree with me?
OU is a bit of a different case, as many are mature students from different walks of life, and is highly regarded.

Universities can be the great equaliser. Plenty of students totally mess up their GCSE's and then do really well at A-level. It's the same with degrees.

I agree with you too. I've taught at five and they are far from equal. Nor are they equally well-regarded.

I'm not saying the universities or the respect you get for them are equal - they obviously aren't.

But the standard of work you have to do is the same. Or you simply wouldn't get that grade of degree at the end of it.

I went to a good uni doing a subject that was quite new at the time and had a fairly low entry requirement, my friend who had quite poor alevels worked her socks of got an exceptional first, got a top scolarship for her masters and got work in a very competitive field. So yes you can do well after fairly poor alevel grades on a not terribly prestigous course. I did teacher training and my college were only interested in my degree class, not my university. Entrence grades are about supply and demand, a popular course will have higher entrence requirements.

I agree with georgiemum and jux- I got my psychology degree with the OU in 2000 - took 4 years whilst working nights and working in intensive care (I'm a nurse) - I had absolutely no problem getting onto my MSc course as they recognised an OU degree to be harder work / effort than someone who has gone to a 'normal' uni when they were 18, went to half a lecture a week and spent all their grant money on beer. Plus people who do OU degrees actually want their degree (if you see what I mean)

Also, during my doctorate interview they pointed out that they appreciated all the hard work I have put in over the years studying part time whilst working full time, so clearly must be prepared for the hard work a doctorate entails! Am now in 4th year... and 20 weeks pregnant... Uni couldn't be more helpful as well.

I'm guessing your FIL just doesn't understand the ins and outs about a OU degree. My FIL to be is just finishing one, and is contemplating a masters and would thoroughly recommend it to people of retirement age - why don't you suggest that to your FIL? (hehe

Thefallenmadonna - well done! I really enjoyed the psychology degree - and made some lifelong friends from it too!

I used to work in a (prestigious and international) institution that awarded only postgraduate degrees, and that recruited very high calibre students all over the world. There was a great deal of knowledge of the value of different universities and university-equivalent institutions and British university degrees were highly differentiated from one another in the recruitment process.

It sounds like government propaganda to me-I believe that some are more equal than others!

I guess it depends on how he asked.

But on the whole I think YABU and a bit over sensitive.

In the past I know I have had times when I wasn;t sure if OU degrees were the same as ones from another university. I was not being partonising nt a twunt. I simply did not know. I found out - probably by asking someone. Can't see the problem in simply asking if you don't know.

For many people there is a hierachy in degrees and where they were attained. for example many people do believe a degree from Oxford or Cambridge are better or more superior. Sinilar some people believe that degrees from red brick universities are better than those from the old polys. etc.

I really wouldn't take it so personally.

In general OU degrees seem to be well respected, and I agree it is a very hard way to study, so shows a high level of self motivation. As to the equality of all degrees? Well I'm afraid this is tosh. There is variation in the quality of degrees from the same institution, let alone between them. There is a fair bit of snobbery involved too of course. In fact Oxford and Cambridge are not the best places to do a number of subjects, like Engineering or Medicine. My university, Aberystwyth does not have a very good reputation for many subjects, and as a result is easy to get in, but in a few areas, such as International Politics it has an international reputation. It also has some specialist courses like Librarianship which you can't take in many places. But this only matters if you are going to specialize in those areas after you graduate. The academic focus in different institutions is also variable. I took a very academic masters in public health through one of the London medical schools at pretty much the same time as dh took a masters in IT through Southbank. His course was much much more business orientated, and not very academic at all. Both courses of study were both very worthwhile and very useful vocationally, but they certainly were very different.

My big sister has three degrees, and thinks that her OT one from an ex-poly (think it has merged now) was not at all academic and could probably have been done in two years. The ones she did at Oxford and Bristol were much more stretching.

Certainly working with a number of nurses who have completed degree level courses I have been struck with how much they struggled with writing, something I think that all degree courses should enable. I am sure they learnt lots of other very valuable things, but I really don't think there is a level playing field across courses or institutions.

Degress have an economic currency. Anyone who cons you into thinking all employers regard them as the same is doing someone a disservice. However good media studies at Middlesex ex polytechnic is every fool knows you don't need AAA in good proper A level subjects to do it and you won't be as well regarded in many careers as if yo had your medical,law or English etc degree from Oxbridge or Bristol etc. It's just common sense but for some employers any degree will be fine so it entirely depends what career you're after.