Anyone gotten a job from an OU?

[PandaDad93]

Hi, I am retaking my science GCSEs as a 30 year old student this year, and was wondering if the OU is actually any good? I've seen people praising it and some people saying it's a worthless qualification because they can't get a job with it so I was wondering what your experiences with it are.

I want to take A levels, or similar to get into a biomedical sciences degree, preferably at a bricks and mortar uni, but if OUs are just as good, I would consider that option too. I feel like that field would benefit from the practical study, not offered by OU training.

I just wanted to know if anybody who took an OU degree actually landed a job from it.

Thanks!

I am undertaking an OU degree and it helped me get a promotion in the Civil Service. One of the things they were looking for was good time management and the degree made me stand out. I didn't go to uni after my A levels but at nearly 40, I decided it would be good for me personally and open up jobs which require degree level education.

I am just pretending the fees aren't there!

I'm on the other side as I teach with the OU (accounting) as well as at a bricks and mortar university.

From a teaching perspective, I find that the support I give my students with the OU is far more than at the 'standard' university. For instance, every assignment has detailed feedback of where marks were lost / gained and then summary feedback of what the student has done well on, what they need to work on (complete with references to course materials) and what they need to study next. This is FAR more than my 'standard' students get.

From the feedback I've had from my students, they have all found employers very receptive to OU degrees because most people know that the students have been studying whilst working and that takes a hell of a lot of dedication and organisation.

I changed to a better-paying and more rewarding career when I was just halfway through my OU degree. The fact I was studying and getting good grades while working full-time and bringing up children made me a good candidate. I've since known many people who have done well after studying with the OU, if only because of the enormous confidence boost it gave them.

You don't 'get a job from an OU' though. It still comes down to the individual and what they can do with their learning, as with a degree from any uni.

I'm coming towards the final leg of my OU degree now, and I am immensely proud of myself. I did it all with a toddler, during pregnancy and with a baby, and will continue to do so in October when my other module starts. Just because we don't live in halls or get pissed all the time doesn't mean we aren't "as good".
And i'll be fucking pissed off if any employer looked down on me because of it.
There is a common misconception that it's not a proper degree, or idiots saying it's a Google degree. I'd love to see the idiots who say this complete the difficult assignments/essays tho. Yes some people will think it's worthless, but others will see it as as a valued achievement and shows determination, self discipline, great time management & willingness to carry on without giving up, no matter what. We teach ourselves, and we have to put the hours in as well as having to juggle work & daily life.
What can be more valuable than that to a potential employer?
You need to join the unofficial Open University Facebook group, that is our OU community & you will find lots of info on there about this topic and many other topics. In general tho feedback from employers is very positive regarding OU degrees.

@Chocolate23 what a ridiculous thing to say. She has her degree PLUS a PGCE. Life experience is always a bonus, especially with classroom management and dealing with parents.

I suggest people who are unable to get jobs but blaming it on OU, need to look a little harder.

OU degrees are very valued amongst employers as students have to be very disciplined, driven and dedicated. Most of them are working alongside studying.

OP, go for it.

@PandaDad93 I did a Social Science degree with the OU, I later secured a job working with teenage parents for the NHS which required me to have a "relevant degree". No issues at all with mine being from the OU. I then went on to do a PGCE and taught teenage parents a range of relevant courses. I'd definitely recommend OU degrees. My DH also did his maths and engineering degree with the OU and is in a management engineering role, he works for a French company, where you can only be classed as an engineer rather than a technician if you have an engineering degree. His OU degree was perfectly acceptable

But then these people are, ironically, uneducated idiots themselves and so why are you paying their views any heed?

The OU offers bachelor, masters and doctorate degrees. The quality of teaching is very high. The graduate outcomes are great.

So why are you listening to stupid people?

I started a health and social care degree with the OU as an office junior. I was able to use this qualification (BA Hons Health & Social Care) to apply for a role as a social work assistant with my local authority. Doubled my salary and so much more interesting. I am now doing the Post Grad Diploma in Social Work which is a 18 month course and will qualify next May.

The OU has completely changed my life. I never had opportunity to attend a brick university as I needed to bring home an income despite good grades at school.

For anyone saying that an OU qualification isn't comparable to a regular uni ... well I'd say that OU students tend to work harder as they juggle study around full time work, family and tend to be mature students who haven't been in education for a while . So an OU qualification is more valuable in many respects.

As long as you do research and choose the right degree I doubt it would ever be an issue.

Why is it mutually exclusive?

Teaching is a skill. It’s not just about academics.

As an employer I would consider an OU degree as good as any other degree. Beyond that doing a degree part time while juggling work shows a real determination not to mention self motivation and time management skills.

I would say if you want to join a registered profession that you need to check the exact type of degree needed for that profession and whether it's available at the OU. However, I don't think having a degree from the OU will put employers off.

*Chocolate23 · 01/07/2023 08:57

I disagree. I don't want my child being taught by teachers with life experience. I want well educated and highly qualified teachers. Unfortunately the standard of teaching is appalling in the UK.*

l did my PGCE in 94. I had 2 A levels. Year on year l turned out outstanding results at both A level and GCSE.

Stop talking bollocks.

@PandaDad93, I wonder if you’d consider asking MNHQ to move your thread to the Mature Study and Retraining board - where it will be of help and encouragement to other people in a similar situation?

(They’ll happily do so if you ask via the Report button!)

OU degrees are rated as good as any other. Some employers rate them more highly because you have to be determined and organised in order to complete your degree. I believe the OU science courses provide you with materials for practical experience at home and still have day / summer schools. Before you write it off you should phone them and ask about the course. Have you looked at the course descriptions online? One big advantage is that you can carry on working and earning while undertaking your studies and there is probably more support available than in a bricks and mortar university (I’ve worked in both)

Undertaking an MA with the OU was the best decision I ever made and it really did change my life.

DH and I both did our degrees with OU, and are now working professionals with high salaries (DH has six figures). This would not have been possible without the degrees. We also did them whilst working full time, and with under 2.

It was the best thing we ever did and my employer (Oxford educated) has held my qualifications in nothing but high regards.

It is not a second rate university, quite the opposite.

This is reassuring to know! I’ve just finished level 1 and ready to start L2 in October (SFE approval permitting).

That should have stated a Computing degree 🙈

I'm part way through an OU science degree and am absolutely loving it.

Earlier this year I attended a careers seminar with the Environment Agency. The lady running it said that the EA really value OU graduates as they have already demonstrated skills above and beyond their degree subject as most OU students work/care/bring up children etc alongside studying. (so time management, prioritizing, focus, etc). And she herself had an OU degree after retraining mid career.

Some strange prejudice on here.

My mum was a SAHM, she got a BA from the OU while raising us and within five years of the end of her probation was a department head in a large secondary school. She said her degree was treated with respect at interview because it shows self-sufficiency and a great deal of dedication. She did it in the late eighties, I remember her watching the lectures on TV at stupid o’clock in the morning. Probably didn’t hurt she started teaching at 39, the kids all assumed she’d been at it for years.

I’ve got a 2:1 from an RG (know that’s important on MN 🤪) an MPhil from a well-respected London uni, and am signed up to start the OU degree I need to begin the career I’d have chosen in the first place (if I hadn’t been so easily dominated aged 16). Can’t wait, personally. Agree with the PP who said the time will pass anyway.

I'm about to start the final year of my OU degree

I've heard that some employers actually value OU degrees because the people who do them are people who really want a degree and will put the work in to get one, sometimes around a full time job, young kids etc, as opposed to people who go to uni when they leave school because it's the done thing, mess around partying the whole time and maybe scrape a degree at the end of it

Not saying I agree with that assessment of campus uni students, just saying that's another perspective I've heard from an ex manager

When I got my current job, the director who interviewed me had just completed an OU post grad degree, and I had just completed my bachelors with the OU, it gave us something to discuss, and she said she loved hiring OU grads because they are motivated and proactive. So it definitely helped in my case.

Can't respond directly to the healthcare profession, but I got an OU degree. It was 15 or so years ago now so the funding / expense was very different (better). I honestly would recommend it to anyone

I've subsequently got jobs that state Degree on the job requirement, though tbh I'd hazard not many of them really needed it.

It's a truly brilliant way of getting a degree on your own terms. Their advisors are also really really helpful, so if I were you I'd get in touch and say your specific goals and questions and ask them to help on what paths look like through them.

They are well regarded - I got into a masters at Oxford from my Open university degree, and employers have always looked positively on someone who has shown the determination to juggle other aspects of life with self-study.

Now I recruit people, if someone has an OU degree (it's quite common!) I kind of know automatically they're a bit of a self-starter, and that's a big tick from me.

I know people who have studied a second degree on the Open University before the fees went up and others who've studied at undergraduate or postgraduate whilst working.
All seem to have done well with their qualifications and employers seem to value the skills it demonstrates as well. It's different to spending 3 years at university at 18.

People who have no formal qualifications are recommended to do an Access course first. And then they do have a formal qualification.

The bar for entering a traditional university as a mature student is also generally lower than for those starting straight (or almost straight) out of school/sixth form college).