Open University

I'm looking to study psychology full time with the Open University and really I'm just looking for some feedback on what doing a course with the OU is actually like because obviously it's not like you can go on an open day to it or anything! I spoke to my careers adviser today and she literally has no idea about anything to do with the OU so any information anyone can give me would be very much appreciated (especially if you're doing psychology!!!) :smile:

Reply 1

Rorono

Hi there,

I’ve just finished my first year at OU studying psychology with counselling full time.

My general review of the the course is overall positive and fits my style of learning. It’s very much at your own pace, I would do a couple hours of work everyday which was enough to stay on track but if you can do more than a couple hours then you could have the weeks work done in 4/5 days.
It’s hands off on the teaching side, each week you read a chapter the do some online activities which is usually watching videos and listening to audios and taking notes from them, then little quiz like activities. There’s not much reason to communicate with tutors unless you need help with something, like the assignments but I didn’t need much help from them with assignments, but I did use the tutorials about the assignments to help me understand what I needed to do.

The OU lacks the social aspect of uni, they do try to make up for it by having in person classes and group chats etc. but it doesn’t compare to a normal uni. Personally that was fine for me because I just wanted to do my work and and not worry about the social side of uni.

I personally didn’t find the assignments too difficult, might take a day to fully understand what you need to do for the assignment but once you get it it’s pretty straightforward. However I have previous experience with essay writing so I already have skills with it. Even without previous experience with essays, there are a lot of activities and resources to help you develop the skill and tutors give feedback on your assignments to help you improve. The first year is mostly focused on helping you develop the basic skills.

I’d say OU would be great for anyone who prefers to teach themselves and work at their own pace in the comfort of their home.

Feel free to ask me any questions you have :smile:

Open University

Milton Keynes

Reply 2

kayleigh_t.27

Hi!

Thank you so much for your reply, that's really helpful!!

I do have a couple of questions - firstly how do you go about applying? I know it's a direct application rather than a general ucas one, but I was just wondering how actually applying and sorting student finance works? Also, would you recommend having a part time job/doing volunteering alongside doing the course - my aim is to become a primary school teacher in the future and a local deputy headteacher I've been speaking to has advised me to get as much experience in a school as possible beforehand, so do you think this would be too overwhelming to do at the same time or would it be okay?

I cannot thank you enough for your help so far, it's useful to have people like yourself for guidance when my careers adviser has no idea herself!! :smile:

Reply 3

Rorono

To apply, you go to the open university website and choose your course then on that page it’ll say register, pretty much just follow what it tells you to do.
For the student finance, you go to the gov student finance website (https://www.gov.uk/get-undergraduate-student-loan) and apply for a part-time loan (it counts as part-time education even if you choose to do it full-time), and just fill out the stuff on there.
The student finance and OU kinda communicate between each other about the loan so you just need to wait for it to be approved and add any information they may need.

I personally wouldn’t have got a part time job in my first year because I found it a little difficult to stay on top of the work at first, however my attention span was low when it came to doing the work so I only did a couple hours each day. If you’re able to read a chapter in a day (30-40 pages) and not over two or three days like I did then I think a part-time job/volunteering would be manageable. It definitely would be a lot more manageable with the OU than an in person uni as the OU is work at your own pace based.

Halfway through the year I was able to keep up better and finish the work quicker, so at that point I would say I could’ve done something alongside the course. I agree that you should get some experience alongside your studies but I’d start the course first then you can see how you can manage your time so you’re not overwhelmed.

Reply 4

Nerol

Original post by kayleigh_t.27

Hi! I did my degree in Psychology with the OU. I did one year at full-time pace and the rest part-time. I found it manageable to hold down a part-time job alongside full-time study and a full-time job alongside part-time study. The final level 3 modules tend to be a bit more intense, so it may be worth considering spreading those over 2 years (meaning the overall degree would take 4 years - which is what the OU recommends). I would have struggled to do those at the same time and also worked. If I wasn't working at all, I may have been OK, though.

I enjoyed the course, but you do have to be very self-motivated. Some of the materials could be a little dry, but the mix of books, audio and video materials was pretty good I thought. I managed to get a first and don't feel like I spent too many hours studying - more so around assignment deadlines, of course.

My one main tip would be to look ahead to assignment topics and deadlines and keep relevant notes as you work through your studies. This saved me a load of time when I started doing this.