I did an hnd in mech eng in early 90s. If I do a part time degree can this count towards it or do I need to do the full 6 years part time degree as per the ou website appears to say? I’m knocking on the door of 50 so 6 years seems like a long time.

think your credits only last 16 years. so you’ll need to start from scratch. Might have some sort of route if you’ve been working in that industry mind you, not sure, probably need to speak to someone to flesh out your particular circumstances.

Reason? What will the degree get you that your experience doesn’t?

I did that back in the 90s it’s best to go and talk to a University sbout it, they will help and recognise old credits in some cases

thanks. no particular reason i was just wondering. maybe i’d be better off doing some shorter more specific courses – i like learning new stuff

I know I am not the smartest bod around but **** me I found the Mech Eng degree hard work..

Robotics….

It’ll most likely have aged out- for a number of reasons, partly that courses change so it gets very hard to align an old course and a new (ie, to make sure the teaching is compatible). And also, of course, people forget.

But it’s not going to be so simple for someone that’s also putting it into practice. Especially for Mech Eng. They’ll be worrying about your maths- HND engineering even today isn’t really mathematical enough for degree level- more than anything else, it’s an issue.

Speak to a university about it. In fact, I’ll PM you details of someone that’ll either get into it and be really helpful, or be a total grumpy ****.

I did an engineering HND in the ’90’s but went straight onto a degree. the HND wasn’t converted, the degree was separate but some universities accepted the HND in lieu of the first year so I got second year entry. Not sure if they would still do this after so much time. You might not want to anyway. After all this time you’ve forgotten more than you remember. I got a sweat on this evening helping my 11 year old daughter with her maths homework! No way could I jump right into an engineering degree after all this time, i’d have to get the brain back upto speed.

Skip the degree and do a masters? That’s what I did after a HND and a few years working. I did it 1 year full-time but it could be done 2 years part time. I recall my HND wasn’t enough to get straight on the masters, but on to some diploma that could then be converted to an MSc if your grades were good enough + some extra modules.

Rather than a degree, you could obtain or upgrade a professional engineering qualification. If you haven’t already, you could join IMechE as IEng with your HND (plus possibly some further learning) and from there progress to CEng.

I got straight onto the second year of a degree course (Design Technology BSc) with my HND (Technical design/illustration) after an 11 year beak a few years back.
It didn’t look like I’d missed much by not doing the first year.. which was proven by the fact I was the only one to get a first when we graduated.

Skip the degree and do a masters?

This would seem a better move to me..

I did an engineering HND in the ’90’s but went straight onto a degree. the HND wasn’t converted, the degree was separate but some universities accepted the HND in lieu of the first year so I got second year entry. Not sure if they would still do this after so much time.

I also did this exact process. Completed my BEng in 2015 so it’s likely it still works the same.

What sector are you in? Would your employer be willing to ‘sponsor’ you? With the introduction of the new apprenticeship levy there are now mechanisms available to do degree and masters level qualifications through your employer that are funded via the levy e.g. systems engineering.

im in automotive. like the masters idea, ill do some looking

I know JLR did a lot with Warwick Uni and created a modular ‘masters’ programme exactly for people like the OP where they can build-up qualifications over a period of time through modular learning

When you have cases like yours (ie older with industry experience), Universities tend to consider on a case-by-case basis. Best to call up the admissions team at the OU, or your local Uni, and see what they say.

You may well get on a Master’s with industry experience.

I did an hnd but after went to do a postgrad course, now an ma. I did not seem to struggle with the work but it was a massive step up from the hnd. Worked well with employers as they only wanted to know the highest academic qualification. In fact i think there 3 hnd ers, c 37 degree holders, we all got on ok.

As posted above I’d look at getting an IEng as well rather than a 6 year part time degree.

I did an OU foundation degree a few years back. I had an HNC from 2003 and that was worth a module or two iirc. IEng sounds interesting though as I’ve been hankering to do something else myself.