Open Uni advice?

dimestorediamond

I am current OU student, on a my final module before gaining my BA Hons in English Lit. I mostly studied 60 credits a year, with one year of taking on 120 (the equivalent of full time standard uni). I have always worked full time alongside it.

You don't need to have any qualifications. As far as Arts and Humanities (and Social Sciences, I think) go, the opening module is very broad for each course and basically serves well as an intro to academic writing and university standard work.

You do need to be disciplined. It's so hard to motivate yourself and has been my biggest struggle (right now I am avoiding an essay!). Some tutors are more hands on than others. I've been fairly lucky with mine. A lot teach OU part time, alongside working in standard universities. I highly recommend joining FB groups for each module as you go, it really is nice to have people who understand any struggles and challenges.

For each module, there is often a face to face class every 4-8 weeks. These are entirely optional and it doesn't harm your grades at all to not attend - I have only attended two on my entire course, due to work. I've noticed the last couple of years, there has been a move to online tutorials though.

It's been worth it for me. It's given me a lot of confidence and last year it helped me move into an entirely different sector of work. I'm going to take a year out next year (in the hopes of buying a house!) but if the right course is available, I am going to do my Masters through the OU too.

BrassicWoman

I would also look at traditional universities; my last degree was all online evening and was a russel group bricks and mortar one. And loads cheaper than OU.

But first you need some career advice. There's no money in pets and there's less joy in engineering. You really need to choose and commit to your route, or you are having a hobby, not a career, study route.

Voyager2002

StevenB12 wrote: »

I've been looking at starting an Open Uni course but just looking for some advice on it from people who may have done one? Do you need any or certain qualifications before you can undertake certain courses?

Basically I'm looking at Engineering courses as that's my current profession, but looking to expand into different areas. My second choice is one of my biggest regrets, I've always had an interest in working with animals and it was something that I never followed up from school sadly but I'm unsure if any future job change would look at an Open Uni course and decide to take on, especially when all of my previous employment has come from a completely different background.

For starters, you do not need any qualifications to begin at the OU. People with a minimal educational background could take Foundation modules in the areas that interested them, then move on to Level I, Level 2, and so on. Obviously some subject knowledge is needed in order to take a Level 2 module: this might have been gained by taking a more basic OU module or by having relevant 'A' levels, or some other evidence of knowledge. These decisions are made on an individual basis: they are not trying to hold you back but ensuring that you have the background skills and knowledge that you will need to complete the module successfully.

If you are interested in both Engineering and Animal Welfare then you can choose modules relevant to both of these areas. If you wanted to complete an honours degree in both areas then you would probably need to study for a long time to complete all the modules necessary, but it would be possible to earn a degree (perhaps with honours) by combining enough modules from the two areas, but you would then not have enough specialised knowledge to graduate in (say) Engineering.

In terms of career options that combined the two interests, there might be openings in the design and production of veterinary equipment. Engineering is certainly very relevant to medical technology and I cannot see any reason why veterinary medicine would be different.