Help confused about open university.

[mam29]

bit of background

i already have 1 degree business and legal studies completed after 6th form/college.

im now a stay at home mum of 3 and a little bored.

I really fancied doing social work so attended open day for local uni which I loved.

but its 9grand a year
ideally I need to be driving-again more money for lessons
the 100day placement -means have to fund childcare

the bursery and small loan would just cover my tuition fees nothing else

my kids just still quite young middle child starts primary 2years time and youngest 3years.

im 32 now and dont want to waste next 3years

looked at open university and bit perplexed.

I cant do social work as you have to work in social work and employer sponsor you.

plus if did i prefer the local uni and course.

so wondered what can I do in the mean time?

is there any short ou courses that would help my social work uni application in few years time?

ou seems to work on credits.

30credit courses
60credit courses.

a degree is 360credits.

The biggest barrier is cost

its gone up a lot

60credits is £2500 a year
i cant get funding as already have 1st degree.

can you pick and mix courses and when you have 360credits you have a degree?

could less credits =a diploma.

areas thats interest me is socology and politics.
could i combine diffrent 30=60credit courses and come out with something useful?

now the silliest question.

how do you learn with ou?

is it all online?
I guess text books-additional cost.
did you attend any lectures?
how do i hand work in?
how do i communicate with teachers?
how much time commitment for 30-60credits in a year.

Those who do ou how do you manage yours?

really want to do something to kill some time but unsure what.

its such lot of money need to ensure im committed, have the time, enjoy and may prove useful for future.
wonderibg if should research learn direct and do something more vocational than academic?

i did ou but my dc's are all grown up. time commitment rly up to u, its like 'homework', u will either leave it til last minute or ul space it out, dep on your character! it takes time to get the assignments, (called TMA's) right cos uv been used to a certain way of professional writin but the ou likes a different way. u use ONLY the ou materials, ul get no credit for quotin other researchers for example...thats hard to get used to i found. also, each course of 30/60 credits u do will have a diff tutor, who likes a slightly diff way of writin...eg one thought startin a TMA with a quote was ingenious n i got fab feedback/marks for it but the next tutor told me it wasnt gd practice n marked me down! communicatin with tutors will dpend who u get, some r fab at respondin to email, r available by fone etc but some not so gd. on one course i started my own 'local' study grp, not borin like it sounds but fun n gd to share info etc, id recommend u do that if poss.
dnt mean to diss the ou btw, just bein honest for u. i did a whole BA Hons with the ou but it was the only way i cudv done it. they do have a pay monthly plan but it was still v expensive.
ps ur rite bout soc work, v difficult to get into.

Did you write your TMAs like that, Boardie?

mam - I couldn't get on with the OU's way of treating its students as though they were lazy, untrustworthy children (and this was for an MSc module) - but I do know people who really get on with the OU approach so maybe I just got unlucky.

The learning is very much "use the OU materials, answer the OU questions", which is fine at Level 1 but a bit spoon-feedy, in my opinion, as you progress.

There is a lot of online communication. I probably got unlucky with that too as my tutor never bothered replying to any questions asked but it was potentially useful if you have a good tutor.

The cost is awful now. I wouldn't ever go to the OU again because it has priced itself out of the market of people working and doing a degree on the side & paying out of their income.

Can you not work up enthusiasm for a career which will accept your existing qualifications, rather than the silly social work model of having to do a degree in that subject and that subject alone?

well my 1st degrees in business and legal studies bsc and got a third as messed up my final year:(-long story.

but now im mature student with 3kids feel could do so much better.

unsure if can use 1st degree to do masters.
or use credits on ou?

its the huge hike in cost and quality of teaching that scares me.
do employers value ou degrees as much as normal?

my 1st degree course-would excempt me from 1st stage accountancy.
im crap with numbers and hate accountancy.

The 2nd part law was all civil. again if wanted to do law would have to do law degree and legal course after.

i loved criminal law alevel found civil law quite boring.

cant do teaching as dident get gcse c grade in maths and science and not sure thats what want to do.

nursing-im squeemish and also needs gcse maths/english and again competative.

I did 10years retail management not family freindly and dident enjoy it just fell into it.

i want to do career thats i enjoy, is well paid and fits in around family well.

Feel bit hopeless right now as economys a mess.
childcares pricey .
been sahm mum last 4years and feel bit unfullfilled.

donlt know what to do about social work thing maybe revist in 3years time but thats 3years away im be 35 then another 3years-27grand later and maybe no job at end of it as social work seems to be popular again and so many cuts in public sector.

It might be different for mature students and people who already have a first degree, mam, but you do know you don't pay that £9000 up front, don't you? You'd pay it back monthly and only during periods when you have a job earning over £21k pa.

Martin Lewis's guide to student loans is here - very clear, good starting point to understand it all.

It says here that you will be eligible for a loan for a course that leads to qualification as a social worker even though you already have a degree in another subject. Probably a good idea to get advice from your local university - they should have experts who will know for sure what your position would be.

Maintenance loan, that is, not a loan for tuition fees, now I'm reading it properly. Is it not possible to train as a social worker through a postgraduate conversion course + Master's? They're missing a trick if so.

London mother -im not sure can covert business and legal studies to social work its so different.

Yes i know i can get partial loan

maiantainance loan+nhs bursery wilol just about pay my 9grand a year but wont help course materials or childcare costs as would need childcare for 2younger 1s and after school or childminder for eldest.

im in no position to start this sept anyway.
was hoping sept 2013 or 2014 but mayb have to wait until 2015/16 which seems so far off.

wonder what i can do in meantime help my chances?

You can pick and mix OU courses to get a degree - so you could do a year's course (60 points) in one subject, the next year in something completely different etc and end up with a mixed subject degree (provided you do the required number of level 2 and 3 courses). You can also get a degree with 300 points but need 360 to get an Hons degree. I started doing Psychology but changed to Sociology and ended up with a Social Sciences degree (could have been a BA or BSc). Within the Social Sciences subjects there is a huge range of choice, so I could have done some geography even and still got a Social Sciences degree. TBH, I think your best bet is to ring the OU and ask them for advice, they have brilliant advisors who will help you get the best out of studying with them.

When I first started with OU, you could handwrite your TMAs and send them in (and record the programmes on at obscure times on BBC2 ), but by the last year of my course it was all done electronically and you got DVDs/CD roms to use. There is still lots of face-to-face contact, especially in the London area, with weekly/monthly tutorials.

There's always an open degree, which is 360 points, still have to do some level 2 and 3 courses, or 300 points without honours. It won't qualify you to do much, but you can do a real mix of courses.

I'm doing one, simply because I did 2 years at regular uni doing psychology, but OU wouldn't accept my credit transfer towards a psych degree, only towards an open degree. I don't want to work in psych so not bothered about that bit, I just wanted to finish my degree.

You can transfer credit for previous study to an OU degree.
I think this even applies to a degree you have already completed.
There is a telephone number for credit transfer on the OU website.
If you give them a ring they will tell you whether you are eligible.
Good luck.

Why don't you phone you the OU and have a chat about costs etc?

www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/qualification/register/index.htm

You should be able to get childcare costs on top of your bursary. Contact gssc/nhs:/ local uni about how big a maintenance bursary you would get. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Thanks guys you all been so positive and helpful was feeling bit glum earlier.

I think I need to research ou more.
cant find out things i want to know from their website.

i did email them aboout finance and got message back

As you already hold an undergraduate degree you will not be eligible for a tuition fee loan. This means that as a resident of England the fees for you will be £2,500 per 60 credit module. A full degree with Honours is made up of 360 credits, so you are looking at a total overall cost of £15,000.

With our degrees' you pay on a module by module basis. You can pay your tuition fees by monthly Direct Debit through Open University Student Budget Accounts Ltd (OUSBA). This convenient 'pay as you go' option is a secure, quick and easy way to pay your fees on a module-by-module basis. Typically this costs just £214 a month, depending on how many credits you?re studying for.

Pay by instalments ? OUSBA Ltd pays the OU your full module fee at registration and you repay the loan to OUSBA Ltd in monthly instalments starting a month after your module begins. Currently, interest is charged at 5.0 per cent (Annual Percentage Rate 5.1 per cent) and is only applied once your module has commenced. This is an exclusive rate that is only available to OU students.

Register now, pay later ? OUSBA Ltd pays your full module fee direct to us. You can repay OUSBA interest-free and in full just before your module starts. This option could give you the extra time you may need to secure the funding for your module.

its still £214 a month which we dont really have right now as have some childcare costs now, our tax credits stopped in april as threshold changed so only child benefit which funds things kids need and do.

im looking for part time job but that seems hard to come by as most employers want fully flexible.

only other option is take out bank loan to fund it which would rather not as would be overstretching ourselves then.

will see if can transfer my credit from previous course and see how many years would need to do.

maybe could afford 30credits a year maybe.

I dont think i can get any other student finance funding from student loans as its a home course and already have 1st degree.

I knwo someones whos starting joinng degree in september but shes never done a degree so gets her fees paid.

The fees are the issue as at home my living costs be same as they are now.

I have found ics courses which look quite cheap.

also some free courses on ou and coursera.

wondering if over next 6months maybe do few free courses.
get used to working online and at home and balancing the kids and that way can determine if ou or brick uni best for me.

i just dont want to feel like my times wasted love my little family but need something just for me and if it helps me in the future then it would be a good thing.

does seem so many obstcles to education.

looked at local college prospectus and

a course ni liked was £1200 -concession price 80

but im not on jsa as sahm not activly looking for full time work.

im not eligible under concession rate which is a whopping 80quid yet i would pay £1200 wonder how that seems fair.

feels like it punishes people who want to get on in life or that do work.

I have a lot of sympathy with your position and think it is mature students who are worst affected by the changes that have been made to student finance. I'm sure you could do better than your first degree.

If you're set on social work then your priority has to be looking at the requirements of the local social-work department(s) and seeing how you can meet them. OU may be the way or it may be a distraction.

This page is all about careers in social services - there are things other than social work: might any of them work for you?

The lack of Maths GCSE can probably be sorted if you do a course at a local college. Not expensive - and will just fill that gap. Also might be good for your confidence!
A friend of mine did English GCSE again in his late 30s, having failed it at least twice at school - he came out with an A.

Or move to Scotland, where there are no fees.

Have a look at your local FE college, they often run HNC/HND courses that you can then 'top up' with one year at uni.

You might not be able to do social work but something like health and social care would convert - although you might need 2 years at uni.

Also many 'popper' universities have distance learning courses that ar cheaper than the OU.

I would suggest you get your GCSE Maths and Science (only needed for Primary teaching - science that is, Core Science GCSE is all that is needed and that is pretty easy).
This might help, it seems you can do a conversion if you get work experience. You might also want to consider being a probation officer here, I have known several and it seems quite a fulfilling career.

I thought if you registered for September start and declared your final qualification then you could still pay the old fees under the transitional arrangement? OU have had their funding slashed hence price hike.

Bit surprised by some of the comments, ime you are encouraged to read widely and use other sources. Academic writing style no different to the RG uni I attended, same with different tutors liking different things.

What about the criminology modules, if you've studied law and are interested in social work? And have you considered applying for the police force, the coppers I know are happier (and richer!) than the social workers :)

Thanks alan/mummytime.

may look into that idea.probation not something considered is that seperate to police?

i signed up for free coursera course in finance lots of maths really hard as rubbish at maths but if can pass that might spur me on to retry gcse maths for 4th time. I have my english. got dd in science.
have c in english, english lit..

whats a popper uni?

looked at onbe of my local fe colleges and non concession fees pricey.

think might try fill sept 12-sept 13with few courses and research and see if in position to start something next sept.