open university

HangTime said:
I'm currently paying just under a grand per 15pt unit (Postgrad level) and there's no way the study materials are worth that, although they are quite good and up to date.
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The study materials are more costly than you might think because they're done in such small numbers. More pertinently you're not paying for the study materials, you paying to do a credible assessed course. Getting people to mark stuff and ensuring standards is expensive. The OU is actually remarkably cheap compared to most alternatives.

Personally I think it represents excellent value for money.
 
I'm studying with the OU myself, I have just 3 more monts of work this year, then in january i will start my final year of my ICT degree. Due to my financial circumstances my degree is fully funded by the OU with a £250 grant each year, none of which i have to repay.

I would love to do the MSc in advanced networking (basically a CCNP + a research project/dissertation), but at a cost of £6550 over 3 years, with no financial support at all for postgrad courses, it is simply too expensive for me.
 
I've been spending upwards of 25 hours on my OU course per week just to meet the deadlines. But I'd say it's worth it. It's not the easy option. Just to add, I'm doing a BA in History, which actually includes classical history.
 
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Mr Jack said:
The study materials are more costly than you might think because they're done in such small numbers. More pertinently you're not paying for the study materials, you paying to do a credible assessed course. Getting people to mark stuff and ensuring standards is expensive. The OU is actually remarkably cheap compared to most alternatives.

Personally I think it represents excellent value for money.
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Oh, I'm perfectly aware that the money you pay isn't purely for the materials (which as you say won't benefit greatly from economies of scale), you've got the whole infrastructure behind it, plus access to a wide range of supplementary materials, tutor support, exam venue etc. But I'm purely talking if you lined it up and said OK, you've paid out £995 and you've got these set of booklets and a copy of a dvd-rom, it's hard to say yeah that's really good VFM.

All I know is when I went to uni it cost up to a grand a year and that was studying 8 different units, certainly a lot more than the 'tangibles' given to me by the OU.

At the end of the day if I thought it was THAT bad of a deal, I wouldn't be studying it.
 
HangTime said:
One word of warning is the the estimates of how long it takes to complete a TMA, it says 6hrs (at least for my units) which is absolute poppycock, I'd say 15hrs is more like it. OK so if I did more study in prep I might shave a couple of hours off but there's no way I would be scoring as highly if I tried to rush it all through in under 10 hours.
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I did T206 (level 2) and T863 (postgrad) a couple of years ago and found the suggested times far higher than needed. I just did the TMAs on a Sunday afternoon.

I think the OU is great... but a "real" university offers so much more, I'm doing my PhD at a real one.
 
Can't really add to this thread since i don't know much about the open university only my own but it's good to see everyone is so helpful.
 
From colleagues I've spoken with, A OU degree is regarded far more highly than one from a standard university. There are far too many uni's about and few are taxing/equipped/staffed enough to educate those who are special (bar the obvious ones).

If you do complete the OU degree, the dedication and self discipline shows true strength of character, which is what employers ultimately are after. Plan ahead well, choose something you will enjoy, good luck.
 
thanks for all the input guys, it's certainly not discouraged me, i think i'm going to buy the set books on payday (they'll be useful for my general interest anyway) and have a read through as much of those as i can before the start date and then if i feel it's something i still want to and the set material is interesting enough i'll give it a punt, got until the 01/09 to sign up so a couple of moths yet
 
You wont regret it! I decided that a change of career was called for after working in the IT industry for the best part of 15 years. I know what I want to do but I need a degree to get there. Having studied A'Levels and passing one and failing the others I wasn't sure how I would take to this - but I have surpassed all expectations, and am actually really enjoying the challenge!

I have just finished my first 60 point module, which I passed with flying colours, and am part way through my Level 2 module. I am having to overlap modules so that I attain my degree in the quickest amount of time. This is probably why I am having to invest so much time in it. But it is worth every penny. I couldn't recommend the OU highly enough. For someone like myself, who is 35, it's absolutely perfect.
 
@ OP if you're 20 then you really should think about going to uni full time - the debt thing isn't a worry as it isn't a conventional debt - it doesn't accumulate beyond simply matching inflation so you only actually pay back what you borrowed in the first place and you only start paying it back when you can afford to.

Doing university part time (OU/London external system/Birkbeck etc...) is a good option but can be hard work if you're juggling work. Id say if you're only 20 then really try the full time option. It is feasible to do 90 credits a year say so you could get your degree within 4 years as opposed to 3 years at a full time uni.

As for it being good value for money, it is very good value for money if you look at the true cost of a degree at an uni (not the 'tuition fees' paid by UK/EU students who are subsidiesed by their LEAs- but the actual course costs - what the other foreign students pay - or what the univeristy actually receives from your tuition fees + the amount your LEA pays them) then they tend to cost several thousand a year.
 
dowie said:
@ OP if you're 20 then you really should think about going to uni full time - the debt thing isn't a worry as it isn't a conventional debt - it doesn't accumulate beyond simply matching inflation so you only actually pay back what you borrowed in the first place and you only start paying it back when you can afford to.

Doing university part time (OU/London external system/Birkbeck etc...) is a good option but can be hard work if you're juggling work. Id say if you're only 20 then really try the full time option. It is feasible to do 90 credits a year say so you could get your degree within 4 years as opposed to 3 years at a full time uni.

As for it being good value for money, it is very good value for money if you look at the true cost of a degree at an uni (not the 'tuition fees' paid by UK/EU students who are subsidiesed by their LEAs- but the actual course costs - what the other foreign students pay - or what the univeristy actually receives from your tuition fees + the amount your LEA pays them) then they tend to cost several thousand a year.
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thanks, that's some good stuff, honestly the first thing i did was look at brick and mortar and access courses but not wanting to move at this time in my life limited me to 2 unis that don't offer the course i want, the OU seemed like the best compromise, i'm honestly not bothered about the time it'll take, the fact it's completely flexible in the respect is something that i find great and think will help

philstanbridge said:
You wont regret it! I decided that a change of career was called for after working in the IT industry for the best part of 15 years. I know what I want to do but I need a degree to get there. Having studied A'Levels and passing one and failing the others I wasn't sure how I would take to this - but I have surpassed all expectations, and am actually really enjoying the challenge!

I have just finished my first 60 point module, which I passed with flying colours, and am part way through my Level 2 module. I am having to overlap modules so that I attain my degree in the quickest amount of time. This is probably why I am having to invest so much time in it. But it is worth every penny. I couldn't recommend the OU highly enough. For someone like myself, who is 35, it's absolutely perfect.
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thanks phil, good to see it's working for you!
 
Just wanted to add my tuppence worth on OU. I'm in my fifth year of a six-year computing degree and I've enjoyed it. I started when I was 21 and haven't regretted it a minute. I think the suggested study times are actually really low, but I'm not the most studious person in the world (I tend to go through quite quickly then just read up on what I need to when it gets to the TMA). That said, I've always done 60 points a year and found that about right - don't think I'd want to do more.
 
im studying psychology with the OU at the mo, and im just over half way through my first level 1 60pt course, its been really good and I think its great value, although I still wish I had gone to uni after a levels.
 
Sorry to drag a thread back up from the murky depths, but how are people still finding the OU? Have people here finished? Are they still at it?

I made a lot of very poor choices when I was younger, got myself into trouble basically and ended up failing University.

3'ish years on I don't really regret my decisions. But I am starting to get to a point where I need a focus for the rest of my life. Just trying to get some first hand information really on where to go.
 
VaderDSL said:
Sorry to drag a thread back up from the murky depths, but how are people still finding the OU? Have people here finished? Are they still at it?
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I'm on my final year with the OU now, I have about 6 or 7 more months of work until I'm compleatly finished. My only dislike I have had with the OU so far is that my interest is in networking, and more widely computers in general, but the ICT degree I'm doing has me doing some coursework that is of no interest to me, E-business.

So if you just want to pick and choose a few courses that suit you to learn more then it is great. If you want to go for a degree, be prepaired to be stuck on some courses that are a requirement for the degree that may not interest you (but are none the less good course and properly presented).
 
Cheers, I was thinking of doing an Environmental Science degree focusing on technology or the monitoring side of things. Just so I can have a chance of getting a job in the environment agency etc.
 
I've been doing an OU course since '07, and I still thoroughly recommend it. Almost every course I've done has been well taught, interesting and engaging. It is a lot of hard work though.

Just make sure you pick your courses carefully.
 
I have to be honest, it is an awful lot of work and I am struggling :( I failed my first exam of the second module by 1% which is absolutely gutting. I got a grade B equivalent for the coursework which makes it even worse! It turns out a lot of others failed the exam too, so at least I am not the only one, but that doesn't help. Failure rate for 2009 was up by 14% apparently which is considerable. There could be a number of reasons why. But I am to re-sit in April, and then I have another exam for my current module, which is due on my birthday, 16th June. If i pass, and at the moment that's a huge if, I will be half way through. It has gone very quickly, but I am putting about 30 hours per week into my studies at the mo, which is a lot. I hope it pays off, otherwise I must be fick.
 
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