Is post-school education good value for money?

If you see my signature you will see that I am a very proud graduate of the Open University. I am so grateful to the OU for giving me the break I badly needed. I went to university at 18 and learned very little. The course I was on was a waste of time. I changed courses after realising that in one lecture due to having an A Level in the subject I was asking questions that the lecturer couldn't answer!

When I became disabled a few years ago and had to give up nursing I wondered what to do next. It was the OU who gave me the opportunity to study a subject I had always loved (English) I had fantastic help and support- at one point I wrote one assignment on an old tablet lying on my side on the sofa because I was too poorly to even lift my head and my laptop was broken. The assignment wasn't great but the OU tutors and staff understood and praised me for even trying. Yet at a brick uni- I kid you not- I was told that the condition I had which developed into cancer couldn't be taken into consideration for an appeal against a failed exam because it was a specific female condition and they could only consider conditions that an 'average student' male or female- could suffer from. So had it been say something like diabetes or epilepsy and the cancer it lead to something like leukaemia that would have been okay but they can't consider medical conditions specific to one gender! (The student union helped me to appeal against this on the grounds of gender discrimination and I won but I was too unwell to take up my place on the course again) They couldn't care less about trying to support me whereas the Support I had from the OU was amazing.

Yet the government seem to be doing their utmost to decimate this fantastic institution. Thanks to their determination to try and put people off part time study by cutting the funds allocated which has a knock on effect to institutions like the OU. I would make a plea to the government to please stop doing this and to provide more funding. Give distance learning part time students equal entitlements to maintainance loans etc. The costs of distance learning can add up- for instance the tutorials for my last module were in Leeds. I live in Leicestershire. I had to pay for travel, accommodation etc- and didn't get a penny of help. All because I'm 'part time' I studied at full time intensity and had far more hours of study than a lot of brick uni students I knew but because I was 'studying at a lower intensity' than a brick uni student in my subject I don't deserve help!

There are many reasons that people study by distance learning. This should be encouraged- not discouraged as the government are so hell bent on doing. There should be equal recognition- not less. I am going to a brick uni to study for my Masters and when I spoke to the Professor in charge of the course she said that she always welcomed OU students on the course because of their excellent independent study skills and knowledge.

I am proud to be a graduate of the OU and I will happily tell anyone who asks me at my new university. That's the overriding thing about my post school education and something I feel so strongly about- the unfair treatment of part time specifically distance learning students.

1. Yes. Developing my mathematics, analysis and research skills was crucial to my career.

2. Qualified yes. Despite the above, I strongly suspect I would be earning the same as I do now if I hadn't gone to university. But three years of student life was undeniably more fun than going straight into the 9-5, and gave me a chance to meet people and try things that I wouldn't have done in working life.

3. Do to the universities what Henry VIII did to the monasteries. 80% of them should be appropriated by the Government without compensation, razed to the ground, the land sold off to build luxury flats, and the proceeds used to write off the debts of every young person who has been conned into getting a useless Mickey Mouse degree.

(This would not affect any university that genuinely gives its students value, as anyone would be free to outbid the property developers and continue to run the university as a university, if it is worth more than the land it sits on.)

University grants and student loans would be abolished and instead every young person in the UK would be given £30,000 at age 18 which could be spent on either a) university tuition fees b) a house deposit or c) added to their pension fund.

Post 16 Education provision is good in Merseyside for most subject areas, imo. (I'm a careers guidance officer.) One area that needs to be improved: practical careers. Bricklaying has inadequate provision for practical hands-on bricklaying. Long waiting lists for people wanting to train / retrain as plumbers.

Astonishing that, even now, decades following their introduction, so many post-16 learners DO NOT KNOW they can join a Basic Skills English / Maths / ICT / ESOL class for FREE at any time of year?? Learners do not need to wait for September, January or April enrolment. Sadly, basic skills are lacking in many people thus they have a barrier to personal development / employment.

It's really interesting in this thread that, whilst I've not read every post, most people who actually have a degree say it worked well for them. The ones disagreeing it never actually went to Uni.

As someone currently doing a OU degree, it's really interesting to hear people's experiences.