Applying for BSc Natural Sciences OU

Hi, I am 32 years of age and have a successful career as a chef. I have been told you are never too old to study or change career so here we are.
I am looking into applying for the above at the OU.
I can't see any entry requirements for this, will I struggle without A levels In Biology, Chemistry and Physics? I am super passionate about science and studying.

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

Original post by Jake167

OU work on a different system to the conventional uni system. Instead of A Levels, you can usually just apply for the course right off the bat i.e. no entry requirements per se.

If you pass the grade at each level, you progress onto the next. If you don't, you would end up with some sort of qualification for the level of study e.g. DIploma in HE, bachelor's, etc.

If you want to apply to the conventional unis, then you would ideally have A Levels in the appropriate sciences/maths. If not, you can always consider foundation years, Access to HE,

If you don't have the necessary A Levels but want to study for them, you can do so via online courses or self study. In either cases, you would need to book for the exams yourself, and possibly look into doing the practical assessments if the unis make it absolutely necessary even for distance learners.

Access tends to be the more conventional route for mature students, but not all unis accept Access.

Open University

Milton Keynes

Reply 2

Anonymous #2

Most OU degrees have no formal entry requirements, so you'll be OK without science A-levels.

If you choose a route that requires MST124 (physics/astronomy), you'll need good GCSE-ish maths skills.
If you want to study MST124+MST125 simultaneously (which is one of the options within physics/astronomy), realistically you would want to have studied some A-level-ish maths before.

You should find an "Entry Requirements" section on the course info page. It's got links to two quizzes which help you assess where you stand.

Best of luck! 32 is pretty young by the way. Young enough that you really don't need to be thinking in those "never too old" terms. That's the kind of language I associate with 60+ year olds studying purely for fun.