University of Manchester or Open University?

Just as a clarification, are you paying full tuition during placement? I'm asking because some Universities charge only 20% tuition fees during the placement.
Manchester is really good, while the Open Uni is not one of the best in UK. Have you checked if you can find a "cheaper" MA in an other university?

Hi everyone,

I have recently received an unconditional offer to study my MA at the University of Manchester.

Unfortunately the course is 2 years, and 8,500 per year. You are only entitled too a 11k loan so as you can see I will be around 6k short for cash.

I also won’t be able to work much as the majority of the course I am on placement.
This is a career I am passionate about, my parents mentioned The Open University, they offer the same MA course for only 9k for the whole thing. Which my loan will cover. I can also work as it is part time over a 2.5 years. I still get the exact same amount of days on placement.

I am just wondering what people think I should do? The Uni of Manchester is obviously a great university and I’ve tried extremely hard to make it this far, is Open University just as good?

Sorry this is long winded but something is making me this Open University won’t qualify me the same even though it will!

Thank you for any help x

It is also about quality of teaching. Lecturers at Manchester are all internationally recognised leaders in their respective fields and are actively involved in research, OU are not.
If you tell us the specific subject we may be able to help. Those tuition fees seems a bit too high.

MA in what? You have not specified. Are there other unis that offer the same course for a lower fee than the Manchester fee? There is absolutely nothing wrong with an OU qualification - its as much about the quality of the other students on the programme than anything else. OU is a very flexible way of gaining the MA but online study is not for everyone.

MMU offer the course and Salford but only for a little bit cheaper. Still way out of my budget. It’s just sad that I’ve got this far, been accepted at a top university but money might stop me.

Online study will be how Manchester teaches for the first semester anyway due to Covid. I’m really unsure what to do.

I'm not sure I really understand the previous responses to this thread as The Open University is a highly respected university. Undertaking a master's with the OU is more cost effective, yes, but this is because it's an online platform - not because it isn't involved in research or doesn't hold a strong reputation. I personally don't feel a lot of brick universities have been competitive in reducing their prices to accommodate the shift from in-person to online learning, which is why the alternative option is higher.

With OU, you save funds and you are able to shape your studies in a manner that better suits you and your life, rather than having to shape your life around someone else (to a certain extent anyway, obviously you still have deadlines etc.). Employers recognise it as a strong university and if you do work alongside your studies this demonstrates higher commitment, better organisational and time-management skills etc. than if you were to study full time at a brick university.

That being said - is the in-person, taught experience important to you? If you're heading on placements then I feel this would reduce any feelings of isolation that could otherwise come with studying via. distance learning but that's my perspective.

With everything that's going on and the presumption a lot of university courses will now be delivered online, I'd rather study with the university that has a long history of doing so.

I'm not sure I really understand the previous responses to this thread as The Open University is a highly respected university. Undertaking a master's with the OU is more cost effective, yes, but this is because it's an online platform - not because it isn't involved in research or doesn't hold a strong reputation. I personally don't feel a lot of brick universities have been competitive in reducing their prices to accommodate the shift from in-person to online learning, which is why the alternative option is higher.

With OU, you save funds and you are able to shape your studies in a manner that better suits you and your life, rather than having to shape your life around someone else (to a certain extent anyway, obviously you still have deadlines etc.). Employers recognise it as a strong university and if you do work alongside your studies this demonstrates higher commitment, better organisational and time-management skills etc. than if you were to study full time at a brick university.

That being said - is the in-person, taught experience important to you? If you're heading on placements then I feel this would reduce any feelings of isolation that could otherwise come with studying via. distance learning but that's my perspective.

With everything that's going on and the presumption a lot of university courses will now be delivered online, I'd rather study with the university that has a long history of doing so.