The Student Room Group

Open University vs Traditional Route

Hi,

I've been looking at the OU as an alternate route to gaining a degree and I was wondering what other's thoughts and experience were of this route.

For starters, how do employers regard an online degree compared a tradional degree? Are they weighted less or the same?

What are the entry requirements for an OU degree (no details on website from what I can see)? Do you require a foundation degree or A levels?

Does an OU course prepare you for the field of work your studying for just as well as a tranditional course?

Please, any information you can provide on the two would be fantastic.

BTW, I come from a sales background, but I'm looking in to Electrical Engineering.

Thank you

Jimbo
Reply 1
Hi.

The OU ask you to provide details of your current academic level but there are no entry requirements as such, they just recommend that you start at level 1 or pre level 1 (openings courses). They are also valued pretty much the same as a degree from a traditional uni but I think the fact that OU students have motivated themselves all of the way through their degree, deserves some credit!

I've just started a 10-credit level 1 OU module in photography and the course materials are fantastic and an OU tutor also called me to see if everythings ok. However i'm not strict enough on myself to do a whole degree with the OU so I think i'll be heading back to a traditional uni rather than taking any more modules with them. My bf's brother is part-way through his OU degree and from what i've seen theres a lot of work involved.
GJimbo
Hi,

I've been looking at the OU as an alternate route to gaining a degree and I was wondering what other's thoughts and experience were of this route.

For starters, how do employers regard an online degree compared a tradional degree?


A lot of employers are a bit negative about the OU.
That is not the OU's fault. It is simply that many employers do not know much about it and seem to think that is is a degree mill.
Reply 3
acolyte
A lot of employers are a bit negative about the OU.
That is not the OU's fault. It is simply that many employers do not know much about it and seem to think that is is a degree mill.


where did you get that information from?? From what I've read, heard and spoken to, a lot of employers value the OU because of the work involved, alongside working full time for most people and other commitments. I know myself what involved and have had positive reactions from employers about studying part time.
Reply 4
it depends what sort of job youre talking about, for things like accounting or managing its fine, but id have to agree that other jobs that are more specific would ask for "better" degrees
Comptetive jobs like investment banking are virtually closed to Open University graduates.
yes I'd agree with the others who have said that it depends on what field of work you want to go into on the strength of the degree. Some employers value OU degrees very highly, others not so. I would think the former are in the majority though. If you're doing a degree for vocational purposes then it would certainly be a wise idea to find out what employers in that field look for from graduates.

From an academic point of view the OU's materials and teaching are very good.

There are no entry requirements: that's why it's called the 'open' university. Level 1 courses act as introductions to a broad field and focus on developing academic skills. Levels 2 and 3 correspond to 2nd and 3rd year courses at brick universities.

Most courses - unless they are specifically online which more are these days - offer face-to-face tutorials on a monthly (or more frequent for level 1) basis, and the OU has its own online conferencing system and students' association, so it is not as lonely a business as you might think.
Original post by GJimbo
Hi,

I've been looking at the OU as an alternate route to gaining a degree and I was wondering what other's thoughts and experience were of this route.

For starters, how do employers regard an online degree compared a tradional degree? Are they weighted less or the same?

What are the entry requirements for an OU degree (no details on website from what I can see)? Do you require a foundation degree or A levels?

Does an OU course prepare you for the field of work your studying for just as well as a tranditional course?

Please, any information you can provide on the two would be fantastic.

BTW, I come from a sales background, but I'm looking in to Electrical Engineering.

Thank you

Jimbo


I just got an email back from both OU and Northumbria uni about practical work as I was looking at environmental science. OU do have residential schools which you can attend but I'm not sure how often. Northumbria uni said you said get lab access atleast once per week and they're always open so accessibility is different.
Original post by GJimbo
Hi,

I've been looking at the OU as an alternate route to gaining a degree and I was wondering what other's thoughts and experience were of this route.

For starters, how do employers regard an online degree compared a tradional degree? Are they weighted less or the same?

What are the entry requirements for an OU degree (no details on website from what I can see)? Do you require a foundation degree or A levels?

Does an OU course prepare you for the field of work your studying for just as well as a tranditional course?

Please, any information you can provide on the two would be fantastic.

BTW, I come from a sales background, but I'm looking in to Electrical Engineering.

Thank you

Jimbo

Hi Jimbo

I can't comment on OU personally as I have never studied with them but I do understand about your concerns regarding whether an online course is seen as a negative compared to an at-campus course. I asked the same questions! I'm now studying law online with the University of Law and it has made no difference to the employers that I have interacted with (and I have been offered a training contract). The one thing I have found is that employers have been impressed with how I balance my other commitments with my learning, as well as the self-motivation and organisation that I have demonstrated by being an independent learner.

Of course, electrical engineering may need more practical experience so this may be something to consider- especially regarding materials and demonstrations. Do you need it? ( I can't tell you as I am not in the field).

As other posters have said, the entry requirements will be posted on each institution's website.

If you don't need practical experience at the level you are studying, then online learning is definitely worth considering.

Hope that helps a little.

Nic
Student Ambassador at University of Law

P.S obvious marketing plug for anyone else considering studying law online: https://www.law.ac.uk/ :smile:
I am just laughing to myself because this thread came up in my search and so I hopped on and answered it; I have just realised that the original post is from 13 years ago!

GJimbo- if you are still on here, it would be great to hear about your experiences! I hope they ended up being as good as my own!

Nic
Student Ambassador at University of Law
Original post by sweet_fluffy_nuke
A lot of employers are a bit negative about the OU.


What a bizarre statement. 78% of the top FTSE companies are a part of the OU employer sponsorship programme.

EDIT: Just realised this comment was 13 years old! It was about 30 years out of date back then too! Yikes.