A family member is thinking about doing one. Would be interested to hear the experiences of people who have done one and how it combined with work/family etc?

Thanks in advance.

In a word….Tough! I did mine before the advent of interweb and social media and spent about 5 or 6 years studying whilst working full time and commuting at least 1.5 hours a day. The coursework was interesting, but the volume of work got very stressful
with full time work – a supportive family really helps. I was taking coursework with me on almost every holiday, so that I didn’t fall behind.

On the plus side, I found it really interesting and very rewarding – especially when I was told that 2/3 of people don’t make the distance for a science degree. Since I did my degree, I gather the way the OU teaches has really moved on with the internet etc. I think things like tutorials and study groups are all online now, and it’s much easier to keep in touch with fellow students. One of the stand out things for me was the quality of teaching at the OU. After completing my OU degree, I ended up going full time to a redbrick Uni, and I was pretty shocked at the poor standard of teaching and student support. Some of the things I was being taught by the OU were years ahead of the stuff that the redbrick lecturers were teaching. I think the difference with the OU is that a lot of the lecturers have worked outside academia, and/or have previously studied with the OU. A couple of ex-colleagues of mine were part time OU tutors and they were both at or near the top of their game – both very sharp and professional.

I would recommend OU as a route to a degree, but (particularly if working full time with kids) I would advise being realistic about the amount of time that can be regularly set aside for study.

HTH

I did a degree and MBA with the OU. As mentioned above the biggest challenge was managing the time required to do the study and write up assignments. It’s 10 years since I finished so guess the use of the Web etc has gone up a few notches. Not sure if they run the week long summer schools anymore, they were the most enjoyable part for me.

I did 2/3 of their Maths degree, then swapped to their Maths MSc. I only did a year of that then bought a house so all my spare time was switched to DIY after that. It was just a hobby at the time as I already had a BEng. Not having any commitments at the time meant it was pretty easy to find time. I did 2 hrs every night Mon-Fri during term time and that was enough for two 30 pt courses in parallel. I’d work on one course one week, then the other course the next week. Course material was excellent, which was good as there was bugger all supervision.

My ex did an OU degree and I was living with her all the way through, as said above, there are times of pressure but you also have the opportunity to get ahead if you want to. It will depend on the course and personal ability as to what the exact workload is, my ex found the low level courses quite easy but it did ramp up. She finished about 3/4 years ago and is now doing a masters so it set her up well.

It clearly didn’t put me off as I am due to start a degree in october with the OU. I know what to expect so am going into it eyes wide open. The first course is an introduction to the subject area (languages in my case) so won’t delve into the subject as much as I’d hope but next year that will change. I will be continuing with full time work but expect to drop some other activities in order to make time. I’m trying to get on top of things before the course starts and I’m expecting to have to ‘catch up with life’ between courses each year. Each degree has different requirements so you may only be doing 30 points one year (I will for my first year) which will be easier/less of a time sink. Level three courses are significantly more work but will likely be 60 point courses so you’ll only have 2 at the end

Feel free to email me (matt@18bikes.co.uk) if you want

Just out of interest Matt, how much do they charge these days for a 30 and 60 point course ?

For comparison with other universities they are £5400/year but that’s assuming 120 points per year to complete in three years as per a ‘normal’ university. That means a 60 point course is £2700 and a 30 is £1350. This doesn’t include any extra course materials (some courses have a lot of reading materials, some of which can be quite expensive. For example my ex was doing psychology and some of the books were £100+ each) plus you usually have residential schools on at least one of the higher courses which will be a few hundred quid

I haven’t done any other higher education though so am eligible for a student loan, wouldn’t be able to do it otherwise

EDIT and at the time my ex did it our combined earnings and the lower/lack of fees meant we only paid for the final course and it was about £900. Wish it was still like that!

I started in February. My first 60 credits will be finished next month. I coped so well with that I’m starting 120 credits in October to get it finished in 4 years.
The course material is excellent, you have the option of tutorials in a bricks and mortar uni or online.
As I’m never in the same place for very long it suits me fine. As long as I have internet, I can study.
My residence is in Wales so it’s quite a bit cheaper to study than anywhere else.

I did a chemistry degree with the OU and graduated about 10 years ago. I found it hard work balancing full-time employment and family life with study, but having a supportive wife helped a lot. That said, I found it really rewarding and the residential schools were great.

I’ve not done one, but my ridiculously degree-laden boss has done 2 (out of his 5 degrees and postgrads). He speaks of the process very highly, hugely recommends it, and considering they’re our competitors, that’s pretty good 😆

I’m hoping to start a Sports, Fitness and Coaching degree course in October if I can get my funding through in time. I’m hoping to squeeze most of my study time in whilst at work (I have a lot of free time) but spread it out over 6yrs. Not 100% sure if I’ll do the full degree yet though as the 4th year requires me to have gained a recognised gym instruction certification which itself looks like a 200hr course so only time will tell!

Doing one. Not for work, I’ll probably have retired before it’s done. Working out time is the biggest thing. I knew I’d struggle but take one weekend a month away catching up. Youth Hostel membership helps a lot.