Open University > Yay or Nay?

Hey guys!

Today I found out that my friend is paying to get a law degree via Open University.
For those who don't know what Open University (more commonly referred to by its initalism OU) is, it's a student fee funded university which has an open entry policy i.e Students' previous academic achievements are not taken into account for entry. You can study your course where you want when you want - There's no campus as such. The Uni offers education via television, Internet, email and post.
It's very different from the traditional university expirence.

I must say, I'm very happy for my friend as its a life long dream for him to study law, and with his medicoa CBB A levels he wasn't able to secure a place at university to study law, until he found OU that is!

However, I can't help but think OU is not as good as it sounds.
Many people work their butts off for years to attain great grades to be able to study a degree at Uni. With OU however, you don't need any academics at all!?

Surely this is not fair?

I'm wondering if anyone could clarify this for me, and explain the pros and cons of Open University? Granted I don't know a huge amount about it.

From my understanding, a degree given by the OU doesn't really compare to a degree given by a "proper" uni.

Why is it not fair? The OU is open to everyone, but you won't succeed unless you have the academic ability. Anyone can start a degree, but not everyone will finish. It's not like they just hand out degrees to anyone who wants one.

Just out of curiosity - I see you are doing an OU degree in Computing and IT. How does this compare with a traditional Computer Science course at a standard university? Is it pretty much the same (lots of programming, how computers work)? Or is it focussed on things similar to ICT education in schools?

Well, I didn't want a Computer Science degree as I have no interest in studying more maths and little interest in hardware. So the modules I've chosen definitely wouldn't be comparable to a Computer Science degree (although there are those choices available for those who want them) as maths tends to feature quite strongly in those. They also aren't really comparable to ICT education in schools, which is usually mind-numbingly dull, haha. My main interests are in programming and web development I guess - I've chosen a couple of programming modules, a databases/SQL module, an e-business module (as I'm interested in web development and web services), a networking module and a few others...still have to decide what my final two modules will be next year.

I doubt the choice and depth of the modules is comparable to those at the top universities for computing, much as the content/depth/choice of modules at Cambridge is unlikely to be comparable to Wolverhampton University, haha. However, I will still get the degree I want next year once I've finished. And I do have the grades to get into a good university (likely one of the top universities if I actually bothered putting any effort into my A2 year, which I didn't). I plan on going to a brick university for a Masters.

Hey guys!
Today I found out that my friend is paying to get a law degree via Open University.

It's not unfair at all. From my understanding, a degree given by the OU doesn't really compare to a degree given by a "proper" uni.

I was once told that the OU would make lazy. I'm not sure how - I have about 6 tutorials a year. Unlike a brick uni, (I did one year there) I found that we have to be more independent.

In concurrence with what other people have said the OU degrees have no formal entry requirements (most of them), but they do build you from the ground up and get you to the same standard as anywhere else, if not higher. If it was a lower standard the OU would not be able to award degrees as there are benchmarks that every institution/awarding body needs to meet. As some other people have said some OU degrees are accredited such as the business degrees, the Law degrees were designed with the Law College and are a Qualifying Law Degree. Lots of big companies sponsor their employees to do OU modules (75% of FTSE 100 companies do it) which definitely counts for something and means that they must think it is worth it. I can name loads of organisations I have spoken to who love OU graduates for the quality of degree, the amount of determination it takes and the transferable skills learnt as well as knowledge from the degree. I spoke to some people from the armed forces and civil service at a careers day and they really loved the fact that I was doing an OU degree and said that they find OU graduates to be great employees. There are also employers who note themselves to be particularly keen to employ OU graduates/students from Barclays, Unilever, Waitrose, RBS, The Met Police, Tesco, NHS, Heinz, KPMG is a big one along with the FDM group, and plenty more. The quality of the study materials is outstanding with great tutor support, university support, interaction with other students and the ability to be flexible is all great. The variety of people who take modules is just brilliant, you don't find that anywhere else. Recently and 80 year old local Councillor got his degree as well as a 16 year old got his. The OU has now the largest amount of students in the UK aged between 18-24 which is larger than any other university which just shows how attractive OU qualifications are to people.

I think those who say that the OU doesn't give out 'proper degrees' are misguided and haven't looked into it properly. The quality of the degrees, the testimonies from students about how it helped them in work or a career or for just sheer enjoyment, the value for money, the support structures, quality of study resources and the amount of employers who want OU graduates and those who have employed OU graduates show how wrong those people are.

OU is brilliant.

Its certainly not 'easy' and anyone with an OU qualification will be taken very seriously by employers because they know that it demands commitment and self discipline to organise your life whilst studying like this.

I did two OU units in my late 20s. It was the best decision I ever made. I went on to complete a conventional u/g degree (2.1), a Masters (distinction) and I'm now half way through a PhD.

I will thank OU for giving me exactly the right confidence boost and encouragement for the rest of my life.