OU degree - recognised by employers or not really?

wornoutmumoftwo

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

As a Careers Adviser working with adults, I've know many OU graduates move into teaching (very common in my experience) and a couple who trained as solicitors after doing an LLB.

That's my plan, degree then teaching college. I asked about age (I'm 40) and they said I'd be one of the younger ones:rotfl:
Three years to go. Up to 120 points.

WhiteHorse

heretolearn wrote: »

'There is potentially the 'question mark' of why they weren't good enough to go to university at 18 in the first place' this I find utterly offensive.

'Utterly offensive' is perhaps something of an overreaction.

bristol_pilot

WhiteHorse wrote: »

'Utterly offensive' is perhaps something of an overreaction.

Indeed. I care rather less whether someone finds my post offensive than I do about the thought that someone reading this forum might spend hundreds of hours and thousands of pounds studying for something that does not deliver a career advancement that they may have expected at the outset.

I can assure you that the question of why someone did not go to uni in the first place has and does come up frequently in discussions with my HR colleagues. It is a 'question mark' that is raised, not an assumption made about all OU candidates.

westv

bristol_pilot wrote: »

I can assure you that the question of why someone did not go to uni in the first place has and does come up frequently in discussions with my HR colleagues. It is a 'question mark' that is raised, not an assumption made about all OU candidates.

Perhaps it just shows that HR people maybe don't live in the real world. :rotfl:

SailorSam

I've just been watching Horizon on Itv, it was about the north / south devide, but when it finished they said next weeks programme is about, 'A university degree - is it worth it', they're talking about what it costs to go to Uni and is it worth it. So maybe a OU degree may become more popular.
It may be an interesting watch.

hcb42

I didn't go to uni in the first place! Was a director of 1600 staff at 29...had i gone to uni I might have achieved that at 32:)

Two OU degrees now, MBA, and they dont get much tougher than that, the other one was purely for interest, but I have achieved some significant recognition with my current employer because of it. But i still did it for me, even though I am using that knowledge to advance our business in that specialist field. Hardly a waste, and if it was, it was my hard earned cash.

heretolearn_2

Ottytotty, yes I know someone who did a maths degree with OU in her 40s, then did post-grad teacher training and became a maths teacher.

WhiteHorse

bristol_pilot wrote: »

I can assure you that the question of why someone did not go to uni in the first place has and does come up frequently in discussions with my HR colleagues. It is a 'question mark' that is raised, not an assumption made about all OU candidates.

Agreed, it is a reasonable question. It is also something a clever candidate can turn to their advantage.

WhiteHorse

SailorSam wrote: »

So maybe a OU degree may become more popular.

Evening classes and part-time degrees were much more popular years ago. As you say, hopefully they will become so again.

It should also be said that the level of commitment amongst people who do get qualifications that way is generally much higher. They work and spend their own time and money, so unlike most regular university students, it's not work avoidance or dole-by-another-name, it's extra work.

duchy

heretolearn wrote: »

I stand corrected about the Open degrees with honours, I'm out of date there, sorry.

Very out of date -I took my first OU course when my son was two or three-he's twenty this year -and even back then honours degrees were available with the OU !!

I did two years with the OU and then switched to bricks and morter university (actually studied at two different London uni's one an ex poly -one a traditional uni) as my circumstances changed (son went to school and I could physically be there). I got to compare the different ways of studying almost side by side and I found the standard of teaching to be significantly higher with the OU. Yes it is going to be variable even within a single institution but overall I found I was academically stretched far more with the OU and also that my fellow students were far better motivated.
I'm considering returning to study now-I'm in Kent so have a choice of several universties both in London ,Kent and Sussex but I'm leaning towards the OU as the better learning experience for me personally.