Great video and all the points are spot on. Doing second year in environmental science last assignment due in two days and first exam in a month's time. Open Uni is definitely a challenge, but if you can keep your head down, do the work, you'll be fine. Many thanks for the video :)
just to let anyone who is wondering know, referring to what the lady in this video said at around 16:25 onwards, some universities in the UK do have a flexible degree like the open university open degree. It is prevalent in the US, Netherlands and some in Germany, called the Liberal Arts (about 15 uk unis at least do this): Winchester, Kings College, Leeds, Bristol, royal Holloway, Exeter, Durham, Derby, kent, essex, SOAS, Warwick, Keele, or Liberal Arts & Sciences at Surrey, Birmingham & UCL.. St Mary's Belfast, Aberystwyth in Wales then Newcastle, Exeter & Durham also have FCH (combined honours) :)
Hi Sarah, thanks for the great vid. I finished my degree at a brick uni and failed the final year because I just lost interest and got fed up of the teaching structure. I was actually heading for a two one, so failing was a stupid decision on my part. Just wanted to say found your vid helpful and I'm thinking of transferring my credit to OU and finish of my degree.
Sarah I want to say a big thank you to you. Brilliant vid. and I've learned a lot from it. I've still got so many questions though. I went to a brick university straight from school and I got my degree but it means nothing to me now because I want to study languages, I'm passionate about languages, I just don't know how to move forward. Info on the OU site is confusing.
Thank you for sharing. I'm thinking about psychology degree now. You gave me good piece of information. I also moved to Lancashire recently because of my divorce. Let me know if you will be around Rochdale. I will happily meet with you for a cup of coffee.
hi! a have a question for you if you don't mind. How much money do I need to obtain a degree at that Uni? I think it's about 4000$ for a bachelor degree (40 courses per 100$). In my country it's not cheap.
Hi Sarah. Thanks for the vid btw! I have just registered for a BSc degree in computing and IT with the plan to complete it in three years. I've logged in with the username and password they emailed and now have to choose the modules. Do you have to choose every module for the whole three years straight away and then pay or can you not choose them a year at a time? in the second year of the course you have to pick what area of IT/computing you will be studying and I was hoping that I would have a better idea of that after a year of studying with the OU.
Hi yeah you just register on the modules you are doing that year. Registration opens in Feb usually for the modules starting in September and you only pay for the one at a time (unless your doing 2 a year which I guess you are?) Good luck with it hope it goes well! There are facebook groups for each module that I'd definitely recommend joining as you get to know all the other people on your course and can help each other out :)
Great video. I was just wondering how much of the year is taken up by study. Is it structured like a brick uni with semesters? Or do you study the full 12 months straight through?. Hoping to study modern languages with the OU. Many thanks.
I'm 22 and have been in the IT Industry for 4 years now, i'm thinking of starting an honours at the open university to progress my career even more. I have a baby boy due this year and my main concern is running out of time. How did you find managing being a parent along side the course? I also work full time mon-fri.
not gunna lie it's really tough, but I found it was easier when my daughter was a baby as she slept more, the hardest part was when she was around 2/3. If your working aswell I would suggest just doing one 30 point module at a time which will take longer but is do-able. There were plenty of all nighters and tears of frustration but if you want it bad enough you will manage. The main thing is not falling behind, if you can manage to keep slightly ahead of schedule you should be fine. good luck! x
Hey Sarah, thank you for the video :) I hae registered to start at open uni but still ummmming and urrring about doing an Access course first or jumping straight into the degree. I am now 22 and finished my A level with ok grades, English is fine but still not sure what to do. Any suggestions? :) Thank you in advance!
id jump right in without doing the access purely because the first year where you do your level 1s is basically covering the same kind of stuff you would do on an access plus it saves you a year, good luck!
i studied 3 years in a normal university and dropped out bcs of the lack of help, the tutors are very unhelpful and even sometimes i feel like they are not bothered with students who needs little extra help! it's like there is a rule (if u don't know then drop it, help will never be there)...i was studying everything by myself the lectures was a joke, lecturer read the powerpoint as it is, as if we can't read it ourselves! so i dropped with full loan £9000 per year...crazy and unfair, still not employed i don't even have work experience as i was busy with my (degree) in this university! so now im trying to take a degree in OU paying extra money but at least i will keep trying until i get this degree for myself!
That socks! Hope this experience is better that the last one! I've found its hit and miss with tutors, had some great ones but one I have at the minute is not great and I've actually asked to change as she is marking me completely unfairly without giving any feedback as to why. Good luck x
Hello, I have been thinking of doing the open degree but wondered if I apply for the part rime loan to fund the course - do they pay for the whole course at the beginning or do I need to apply for each module or each year? Im finding it confusing
There's a limit to how much you can borrow from student finance per year. It's £6750 per year for part time study like with the OU or £9000 for traditional uni. So you can borrow for a whole year study at most, meaning you have to apply at least 3 times for the whole degree. The money is paid directly to the OU and it's normally paid in 3 installment. 25%, 25% and 50% near the end of the module. Bad things about studying with the OU is that you can't apply for maintenance loan or open a student account with banks.
No i haven't as if yet but there are week long revision trips and residential schools that can be attended where they probably do that kind of thing. I have one this summer to go to so we'll see
An interesting video but you're mistaken re financial support. Only students who started their degree under the old fees system get reduced fees and receive financial support. If you began your OU studies after Sept 2012 then you get nothing apart from a tuition fee loan. :(
Hi I finished my degree with the open University and used it to get onto a masters degree in psychology which I wouldn't have been able to get on to without the OU! Im currently about half way through the Msc but deferred in 2020 due to the kids being off school for so long etc. But will be finished by (hopefully) 2022 then my plan is to gain as much experience as possible then go on to do a PhD in the future
