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Student at the Open University
Open University
Milton Keynes
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How does the Open university actually work?

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^ Not for the entire degree tho surely?
Student at the Open University
Open University
Milton Keynes
Visit website
Reply 21
Original post by Juno
Well, I think the OU have an actual library somewhere, probably Milton Keynes. But the idea is that they have agreements with other unis that you can use their libraries, as long as you've applied for the special library card.

And I'm on the old fees so it will turn out I've only paid a couple of hundred quid or so.


Ha, I live about 200 miles away from MK so no chance of that,

How long from start to finish do you expect to finish your degree, thanks
Reply 22
Original post by Bleak Lemming
^ Not for the entire degree tho surely?


Uh, yes, actually. Because I'm on old fees and a low income, I've only personally had to pay when I've done more than 120 credits a year as that's more than max funding. I can't really remember how much I've paid, but I do remember paying £70 at one point and think I remember paying a teensy bit more last September.

So yeah, I've personally paid a couple of hundred quid in total (if that) for my degree. But then they give me grants, so overall twould be a negative amount :grin:
Original post by Bubbles~
Ha, I live about 200 miles away from MK so no chance of that,

How long from start to finish do you expect to finish your degree, thanks

You don't need library access - they send you most of the books you need, although a few courses require you to buy another (to give you an idea, I've only been required to buy one book) and you have access to a lot of articles and journals online. Library access is more for postgrads I think.

I started in 2008 and hope to finish later this year. I've done mine fairly quickly, though. Normally students take 6 years although you can do it in 3 if you really study intensively. It depends on how many credits you do - you need 360 in total, and can't do more than 120 an academic year unless you get special permission. So 60 credits a year is normal pace and if you're working or have other commitments it may be all you want to commit too.
Original post by Juno
Uh, yes, actually. Because I'm on old fees and a low income, I've only personally had to pay when I've done more than 120 credits a year as that's more than max funding. I can't really remember how much I've paid, but I do remember paying £70 at one point and think I remember paying a teensy bit more last September.

So yeah, I've personally paid a couple of hundred quid in total (if that) for my degree. But then they give me grants, so overall twould be a negative amount :grin:


Lucky bugger!

I haven't sat down and worked it out but mines gonna cost around £6,000 (mine 285 credits) but I can't really complain if people are now paying £15,000 :u:
Reply 24
Original post by Bubbles~
Where is the Open University library btw?


Milton Keynes but if you google 'SCONUL access' you can use a local uni library.

Original post by Juno
Uh, yes, actually. Because I'm on old fees and a low income, I've only personally had to pay when I've done more than 120 credits a year as that's more than max funding. I can't really remember how much I've paid, but I do remember paying £70 at one point and think I remember paying a teensy bit more last September.

So yeah, I've personally paid a couple of hundred quid in total (if that) for my degree. But then they give me grants, so overall twould be a negative amount :grin:


I pay 'full fees' (TA, non-ELQ) and they don't even cover half the course costs:smile: I had no idea my studies were so heavily subsidised until I wanted to bail on a course and found out (not directly from the OU) not completing would cost them as much as or more than I paid for the thing in the first place.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 25
Original post by Juno

You don't need library access - they send you most of the books you need, although a few courses require you to buy another (to give you an idea, I've only been required to buy one book) and you have access to a lot of articles and journals online. Library access is more for postgrads I think.

I started in 2008 and hope to finish later this year. I've done mine fairly quickly, though. Normally students take 6 years although you can do it in 3 if you really study intensively. It depends on how many credits you do - you need 360 in total, and can't do more than 120 an academic year unless you get special permission. So 60 credits a year is normal pace and if you're working or have other commitments it may be all you want to commit too.


6years, I thought studying at uni generally only lasted 3?

Do you pay by the number of years you do at Uni or by how many credits you use?
For example if I only studied very slowly and it took me 6 years to complete my degree would I pay year by year or just for what I have studied,

And what are credits btw and how would I know how many I have used as to not go over the limit?


I'm also on a rather low income so does that mean I'll qualify for an old fee's to?
Reply 26
Ou is meant to be part time so 6 years is normal. Many students work or have families they have to fit round.

And no old fees were for students who already started their degrees. It all changed recently.


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App
Reply 27
Original post by Bubbles~
6years, I thought studying at uni generally only lasted 3?

Do you pay by the number of years you do at Uni or by how many credits you use?
For example if I only studied very slowly and it took me 6 years to complete my degree would I pay year by year or just for what I have studied,

And what are credits btw and how would I know how many I have used as to not go over the limit?


I'm also on a rather low income so does that mean I'll qualify for an old fee's to?

Full-time uni study normally takes 3 years, but as lots of OU students study part-time (often working full- or part-time as well), 6 years would be fairly typical - though it's possible to go faster or slower, depending on your circumstances.

To do an Honours degree, you'd usually do 360 credits of study - 120 each at Levels 1, 2 and 3 (there are a few exceptions to this, but generally that's how that goes). OU modules are generally 60 or 30 credits (they're mostly getting rid of the shorter ones, though there are a few around, still), and under the new pricing structure it'll cost £5,000 per 120 credits of study. So, if you did a 60-credit module a year, for example, then you'd pay £2,500 each year; or if you did more or less in a year, then it'd go up or down accordingly, but the upshot would be that the whole degree would cost more or less the same in total, whether you did it in 3 years or 13.

No-one who isn't already on the old pricing structure will be able to pay at the old, lower rates, but depending on where you live, you'd probably be eligible to get financial support of one kind or another i.e. if you're eligible for a tuition fee loan then you wouldn't actually have to pay anything upfront.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 28
Original post by Juno
Ou is meant to be part time so 6 years is normal. Many students work or have families they have to fit round.

And no old fees were for students who already started their degrees. It all changed recently.

Okay,


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

I have a question, the work you do, do you log into an account sort of thing on the computer that brings up your assignments, work and stuff, do you fill in essays and do all the work online?

Original post by Persipan
Full-time uni study normally takes 3 years, but as lots of OU students study part-time (often working full- or part-time as well), 6 years would be fairly typical - though it's possible to go faster or slower, depending on your circumstances.

To do an Honours degree, you'd usually do 360 credits of study - 120 each at Levels 1, 2 and 3 (there are a few exceptions to this, but generally that's how that goes). OU modules are generally 60 or 30 credits (they're mostly getting rid of the shorter ones, though there are a few around, still), and under the new pricing structure it'll cost £5,000 per 120 credits of study. So, if you did a 60-credit module a year, for example, then you'd pay £2,500 each year; or if you did more or less in a year, then it'd go up or down accordingly, but the upshot would be that the whole degree would cost more or less the same in total, whether you did it in 3 years or 13.

No-one who isn't already on the old pricing structure will be able to pay at the old, lower rates, but depending on where you live, you'd probably be eligible to get financial support of one kind or another i.e. if you're eligible for a tuition fee loan then you wouldn't actually have to pay anything upfront.



Thanks, great that was the answer I needed. I get all worked up and start confusing people but I get what your saying, thanks
Reply 29
Original post by Bubbles~
I have been looking at starting a course at the Open university, Yesterday and today I have been looking at the website, to enroll on a course you needn't have any qualifications and there are no formal entry requirements in place. Anyone can apply, apparently upon successful completion of the course you gain your degree as you would at any other Uni/college, Only difference is, you study at home or at work, from what I gather you do all your studying at home but for exams you go to institutions.

It sounds great to me unless I'm missing something?? it kind of sounds to good to be true.

If I enroll and begin studying for a degree I'll be paying on the pay back once earning over £21,000 basis. I don't get what it means by you pay for how many credits you use ?


Whether open university is suitable or not depends on a person's qualification. If for some reason you are not able to apply to regular univs, then this will do. If you would able to get admitted in regular univs, then why do you have to think about it? There is a big disadvantage. Although you'll be getting your degree, still employers around the world gives more weight to the regular univs. So if you have a opportunity for regular univ,try that first. Just my 2 cents!
Reply 30
Original post by Bubbles~
I have a question, the work you do, do you log into an account sort of thing on the computer that brings up your assignments, work and stuff, do you fill in essays and do all the work online?

Some courses are different, but for most courses they send you textbooks through the post and you work through those in your own time. You get a course guide (which is another book) to help with this, which will give you short exercises to do and explain difficult bits of the book etc. You also get a calendar, which tells you roughly where you should be up to.

Then some modules have online activities to complete too. These can be things like multiple choice quizzes, or for an economics module I took one involved dragging demand curves around to see which was right. You can print these out if you like but they won't automatically give printed copies. Some courses are almost entirely online - I think some of the technology courses are, and one of the business ones I hated and dropped was too.

You also can visit the forums where you can talk to people on your course. It depends on the course how busy they are, though. And when I did B120 they posted questions on the forum and you had to discuss those or you lost marks in your assignment.

The actual assessed work is available online, but as a downloadable PDF format so it's a good idea to print a copy. There are deadlines to submit these pieces of work, although you can get extensions in some circumstances. Once you've downloaded your assignment book you can do it whenever - you do it in Word or whatever - and then you submit it on the website when you're done. It's a bit like emailing your work off. So you don't have to do it online, but you do need internet access for submission.
Some courses, like maths or economics, recommend you post a paper copy to your tutor instead. That's because it's difficult to do maths/diagrams on a computer. So you'd do the work by hand, photocopy it (so it doesn't get lost) and take it to a post office.
Reply 31
Original post by Juno
It's just like normal uni in that you need to do essays (and as you've found some courses have exams). The main difference is that you really have to motivate yourself - there are optional tutorials, but they're about monthly so most of the time you are studying on your own. You can contact your tutor and they have forums where you can discuss issues with other students, though.

It's not too good to be true because studying on your own is hard, and you need to fit it around other commitments - mostly, students will either work full time or have families or occasionally both!



I'm just in the process of applying for an OU Maths degree. There's no mention of any kind of minimum standard I need to prove I can reach before applying, so I guess in that sense it very different to brick universities with their point requirements. Nice to be able to get this kind of chance.
Reply 32
Original post by OUivan12
I'm just in the process of applying for an OU Maths degree. There's no mention of any kind of minimum standard I need to prove I can reach before applying, so I guess in that sense it very different to brick universities with their point requirements. Nice to be able to get this kind of chance.


With maths especially they offer very basic courses so that people who haven't studied for ages or never really "got it" can have a chance. MU123 is about GCSE level, and there's even a course before that.

But just because anyone can enter doesn't mean everyone will exit with a degree. Especially with something like maths where the knowledge builds on earlier stuff. So it's up to students to pick the right course to start with and then to put in the necessary work.
Reply 33
Original post by OUivan12
I'm just in the process of applying for an OU Maths degree. There's no mention of any kind of minimum standard I need to prove I can reach before applying, so I guess in that sense it very different to brick universities with their point requirements. Nice to be able to get this kind of chance.


The OU have a Mathschoices site to help with determining where to start. Worth a look if you haven't already
Reply 34
This is more a general University level education related question but,

Do you get assignments similar to A-Level coursework?

And if so do they send you/is it possible to look at examples of what you should be doing?

I was always good at doing coursework but I maintain that this is only because we were able to look at past student's work so I was able to, not plagiarise but be inspired by their work and know exactly what I have to do and how to do it. One of my biggest concerns is not having a clue what to do with a particular assignment.

Oh also what exactly is a dissertation? and again are examples available to look at to know what you should be doing for it?

And finally (for now anyway) is it possible to see on the course pages how many exams each module entails?

Thanks.
Reply 35
Original post by AndyE9
Hi

I'm new on ere , but I study at the open uni .. I really like it , I am working towards a degree in computing and development.

I think the way it works is really good , we have to submit assignments and undertake tests , I go into the uni on selected day and meet with other students in my tutor group and with the tutor …

I have to say theta the course material is really very good , I did make a comparison with a guy doing the equivalent at B/M uni and I was really pleased with how good the Ou is ..

any question just ask.. andy


When you say you go into the uni, what do you mean? Do you go to a uni near you or to the actual open university wherever that may be? As for lectures, are those over the internet or in a set location? I want to apply for English literature in February 2016 but im really not sure about how the whole thing works:frown: thank you
Original post by 0hmygxsh
When you say you go into the uni, what do you mean? Do you go to a uni near you or to the actual open university wherever that may be? As for lectures, are those over the internet or in a set location? I want to apply for English literature in February 2016 but im really not sure about how the whole thing works:frown: thank you


Some modules have tutorials which are scheduled at a school or uni near you, it'll depend where you are in the country as to when/where the tutorials will be. Not all modules have them, 3/4 of my modules only have online tutorials.

There are no lectures, there are online tutorials which are like Skype and some modules have face-to-face tutorials. The rest you learn from the books provided.

I'd wait until October if I were you, if you follow the path through to the second year you'll see that most second year modules start in October. It'll be a smoother transition if you also start level 1 in October.

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