Approaching a midlife crisis, well not so much a crisis, just kicking myself up the arse and trying to get some focus as I’m turning 40 in 7 weeks.

One of the options I’m considering is an OU course/degree (Enviromental subject).

My main concern is that, whilst I’m not thick, thanks to mental health problems and not really using my brain in over 10 years, my ability to retain info and my memory is shocking.

I left education 21 years ago and have done no studying since. So, bearing these facts in mind, am I wasting my time? Will I struggle to pick up?

I am perusing other options (apprenticeships for one) just wondered if anyone had similar fears to me before starting a OU course? How did you find it? Tell me your stories

I don’t have anything to offer but am in a similar position. I need to convert my degree to a law degree for work really so am looking at doing a GDL course via part time distance learning over 2 years. 2002 was the last time I did anything academic and that was an English degree, so not exactly known for being difficult.

Interested to hear others experiences.

Just glancing through the prospectus, I think an access module would be best for me, but doing that would delay starting the proper course for a few months

*waves*
I’ll fire you a message, as I’m doing it the now!.

Ooh. Cheers chap!

I did most of an OU degree back in the mid 90’s when the courses were offered at a minimal cost, while looking for a career change, and it was fantastic.

It was really well run, challenging but well supported and somehow, magically, managed to guide people who hadn’t been at school in some cases for 40-50 years, or had left early with no qualifications, through study at levels that they would probably never have believed that they were capable of achieving.
I can’t say what it’s like today, but it’s had (like most institutions) big funding cuts, changes to it’s focus and target markets, and costs the same as all the other universities.

Having said that, they do still offer some free self paced (and presumable unguided) courses- See Here which may help you get back into the frame of mind necessary for study.
It’s also worth having a look at the MOOCS – EdX, Coursera, Udacity to see whether they offer anything that might suit you- although just about everything used to be free on those, they are trying to monetise now, and the free option for a lot of courses gets hidden away.

I did an ou geosciences degree after some pretty shocking GCSE results and a 15 year gap in studying. Mostly just for self benefit but with the possibility of a change of career.

I did an access course just to get the hang of some of the maths but probably could have got away with just starting the degree. The courses are set out with levels of increasing difficulty and level 1 is pretty accessible as long as you can spell and do basic maths.

Level 1 courses aren’t too hard and I found it quite fun. Level 2 gets tricky and I found level 3 courses pretty time consuming. Even so I came out with a 2.1 and was pretty pleased .

Be prepared that it will consume your free time and deadlines become pretty stressful as the course progresses. Set aside time and work out when you you are best at taking in information.

Good luck.

I did five modules over a few years circa 2000.
They were great value then at about £3/400 each. Since then I belive the price has risen for English students to over £1k per module still the lower price for Scotish or Welsh students.

I terms of the actual course I found them very good, plenty of support, well structured with good material but if it says you’ll need to do eight hours a week you probably will, so dont under estimate the commitment.

I think the general consensus is that an OU degree is worth far more than a standard degree from a traditional university. The self-motivation and discipline required cannot be underestimated. The quality of the courses is high.

It is definitely not a second-class option. If you love the subject, you will enjoy the study, but holding down a full-time life is not easy. Go for it!

I work for the OU. We were set up to help people in exactly your circumstances and that supportive mission remains central to us.

You’ll get far far better support from the OU re your mental health issues and lack of experience studying than you will from any of the pure online providers.

When any of us attend a graduation ceremony we’re absolutely blown over by how much the achievement means to our students, it’s a huge thing they’ve done, almost always against the odds.

Re funding, depending whether you’re in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, the support available is different. Even in England you don’t start paying off the loan till you’re earning £21k…

Access courses are designed specifically as tasters…

Give us a call and have a chat to one of our student support people and they’ll help you out.

Good luck and best wishes with it

Sounds interesting.

*checks prices*

My main concern is that, whilst I’m not thick, thanks to mental health problems and not really using my brain in over 10 years, my ability to retain info and my memory is shocking.

I went back and did a degree aged 39. You’ll be amazed how much better you get at retaining info once you start trying to learn stuff. Turns out the brain is a muscle after all!! I found myself not only able to learn new stuff much easier, but also able to recall stuff that happened 20+ years ago with a massively improved amount of clarity. I loved it 🙂

Many of their professors are extreme leftists on social media who don’t grasp the fundamental concept of separating private and profession, in fact they seem to revel in openly mixing the two without fear of any recourse – which is sickening.

/\ random!

Anyway back to pricing..a quick check using TM111 Introduction to Computing 30 credits as an example which is equivalent to a module I did many years ago is £1432 if you select England as your residency but only £479 if you select Scotland. The website landing page insists you select a country then stores it as a cookie making that comparison difficult btw which makes it look like the OU is not keen on tranparency of pricing.

Thats quite an increase in cost and given I paid under £300 for the first module looks more like a price hike in England than a subsidy in Scotland.

No doubt political decisions are behind this which seems very short sighted.

I have said before the OU was part of re training that changed my life for the better but at £1.5k per module it wouldnt have been an option and without that adult education theres a good chance I would have been a cost rather than contributor to the UK.

Perhaps the post above is not actually that random and understanding the consequences of right wing policies is what makes clever people lefties.

A little bit of Googling suggests a Master George Osborne reduced adult education budget in 2012 (its since gone down again) and we are also about to lose £1.6 billion in EU subsidy.

Well done folks, awesome voting.

Well done folks, awesome voting.

Has anyone invented a Godwin’s law equivalent for Brexit yet?

Many of their professors are extreme leftists on social media who don’t grasp the fundamental concept of separating private and profession, in fact they seem to revel in openly mixing the two without fear of any recourse – which is sickening.

Who or what should they fear?

I think the general consensus is that an OU degree is worth far more than a standard degree from a traditional university. The self-motivation and discipline required cannot be underestimated. The quality of the courses is high

Err really. My first degree was from University and I have done quite a bit of Pg stuff from the OU over the years.I would agree with Vinney that the quality of the materials and delivery is excellent and the whole process is at least as rigorous as full time Uni study. I dont agree with your “consensus” however it is seen as “better” do you have evidence? after all a Uni or the OU would ask you to substantiate your assertion”

Who or what should they fear?

A telling off from the Daily Mail.

Thanks all especially brooess, I’ll reply properly later today

My main concern is that, whilst I’m not thick, thanks to mental health problems and not really using my brain in over 10 years, my ability to retain info and my memory is shocking.

A lot of that will improve with practice.

I did a few OU Maths courses about 20 years ago, just because I felt my brain was atrophying and wanted to stretch it a bit. The quality of the material was excellent, very nicely structured and really well written. I really enjoyed it. Would have finished the degree if I hadn’t then bought a house and spent all my spare time on DIY…

I’ve just done a two year course at Birkbeck Uni which was, essentially, the first two years of a degree, and I absolutely loved it. My advice would be do it: However, you have to love the subject, otherwise it will be a real chore.

The telling thing for me was that I actually looked forward to doing the assignments. As a comparison, when I did my HNC in Construction, between this course and my first degree, I would put off the assignments to the last minute, and dreaded doing them.

I would love to complete the degree, but I’ve been offered a job in Canada. However, if that falls through, I will be going back and finishing off the degree.

The other trouble I found was that it took over my life, both time-wise and mentally, and I think my day-job suffered as a result. If I do return, I will be looking for a less involved job that will give me a better balance.

Many of their professors are extreme leftists on social media who don’t grasp the fundamental concept of separating private and profession, in fact they seem to revel in openly mixing the two without fear of any recourse – which is sickening.

Shockingly so.. Even the literature is Liberal/left biased whenever possible.

Plus the ‘part time’ workload far exceeded anything my bricks n mortar Uni friends were doing.

I have said before the OU was part of re training that changed my life for the better but at £1.5k per module it wouldnt have been an option and without that adult education theres a good chance I would have been a cost rather than contributor to the UK

Gone up a lot, think I was paying £200/module, was 20 years ago mind….

Ok, so I’ve got my initial application in for BSc (Honours) Enviromental Science, also initial application for student loan. Deadline for OU course application is 11th Jan, so cutting it very fine, especially with need of student loan and having to send my birth certificate in. Looks like I may also qualify for some extra financial help as I have 3 disabilities that they cover.
OU helpline opens again on Saturday so will give them a buzz then to make sure I’ve got everything covered.

Expect difficulties when dealing with the student loans company. Good luck with your course.

Thank you (and to everyone else) As I’m only applying for loan to cover cost of course/modules, the only interaction I’ll (hopefully) have with student finance England is the initial application and sending my ID in. Any other complications/delays then that’s for the OU to kick them up the backside

Can I just add that, as someone involved in academia, I strongly support you for even thinking about the OU.

Their work is fantastic, and those who pursue and finish degrees through them deserve utmost respect.

Houns, I don’t have much to add except that, if you are interested, go for it and don’t let anything discourage you!

Good man. Happy New Year 🙂

Back when I did my OU degree and MBA the prices were low enough that you could’ve taken a punt on starting a foundation course and seeing how it went. It looks a bit on the expensive side for that now.

I think they’ve stopped the summer schools as well, they were the best parts of the courses I did.

Thanks once again for your kind words and support. Brooess I’ll be calling in when you open just to make sure I’ve done everything correctly

Depending on your environmental direction, short courses come up with other charities and professional bodies, Field Studies Council, Royal Forestry Society, whatever the Countryside Ranger group is called, Vincent Wildlife Trust come to mind, but there are many others.

Whilst there are a lot of people in the environmental sector with degrees, they don’t guarantee work, particularly at the practical end. Obviously, more of an advantage at the consultancy end of things.

I’ll be keeping up as much practical work as I can with the NT, and I’m still looking at and applying for various jobs and apprenticeships. Doing this degree is mainly to Improve myself and get my brain working, if it helps get a job (or progress further in a career that I may have by then) then that’ll just be the cherry on the icing

Trust is part of Countryside Managers Association and courses come up on that, which I think the Trust gets free places at as a Corporate Affiliate.
The in-house hazardous trees courses are also good, help you read a tree and a massive reading list if you want to take it further.

Guess you know about the Academy Rangers, I know a property that just rejected all its applicants with environmental degrees as the scheme is supposed to support new entrants, not people looking for a bit of experience for their CV. Know a current Academy Ranger that says most with degrees have already left scheme after 18 months.

Edit to add: I did a degree top-up on my course as it was recommended on my HND placement year to keep options open if I wanted to progress up the management structure, but I can’t see myself getting bored of cutting trees down.

No I hadn’t heard about that.

I love the hard graft, lugging and chopping stuff down, keeping my fingers crossed for an Aborist apprenticeship that I’ve applied for. Want to be doing the physical stuff for as long as I can

If you’re after arb’ stuff, there’s a couple of good Facebook pages.