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Open study college- is this trustworthy and is it seen as a qualification

Hey,

I’ve done my A-Levels and graduated from University last July in Criminology. However since I’ve left university I’ve felt so lost and have struggled to find a career path that I want to go down.

Recently I have found a growing interest in Counselling where I can combine my degree to counsel victims/offenders etc. I’m not sure where it’s best to get this qualification, the Open Study College provides qualification in this sector which also allows me to continue working at my job but I don’t know if it’s trustworthy or even seen as a qualification.

Could I get some opinions or some experiences with this study college?
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Juno
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Original post by Rhi_1995
Hey,

I’ve done my A-Levels and graduated from University last July in Criminology. However since I’ve left university I’ve felt so lost and have struggled to find a career path that I want to go down.

Recently I have found a growing interest in Counselling where I can combine my degree to counsel victims/offenders etc. I’m not sure where it’s best to get this qualification, the Open Study College provides qualification in this sector which also allows me to continue working at my job but I don’t know if it’s trustworthy or even seen as a qualification.

Could I get some opinions or some experiences with this study college?


The Open Study College is the name of the place. It's the same as saying "I went to Cambridge University" in that it doesn't tell you what you did there. The place is reputable, but it doesn't mean that your intended course is going to be recognised or that it will be useful for what you want to do.

The Open Study College have many courses in counselling, and some are better than others. If you look at drugs and alcohol counselling you'll see that under "outcomes" it says "The completion of this course alone does not lead to an Ofqual regulated qualification, but may be used as evidence of knowledge and skills towards regulated qualifications in the future", which means that it's one of the less useful qualifications. If you look at this then you're getting a CIE certificate, and that's more valued. You want a course that someone else has verified; anyone will say that the course they made is brilliant, but if another organisation agrees then it's much more likely to be.

With counselling, you also want to be looking at a course that involves practical work and experience. Theory is helpful, but the job role will involve doing it so you need to have experience in the practical aspects. This may be where an online course struggles compared to a classroom based course. Things like body language and tone of voice are very important, and even if you had videoed sessions it might not be as possible to pick up on these aspects.
I have joined the Student room to look for a reputable college. My daughter has studied with The Open Study College and after completion of 2 courses bought at the same time, she was looking forward to applying and being placed in a job only to discover that both courses have no recognition or authority whatsoever! Despite over a year of study, she remains unqualified. In hindsight, the lack of support or communication from this company makes a lot more sense. They are not going to waste time on teaching a course that ultimately has no outcome. I have tried contacting the college and my calls are never returned. I know it was a mistake on my part, not researching enough as I should have checked more thoroughly - upon checking there is lots of negative reviews. Unfortunately, this time duped, so for everyone else out there please do the research, ensure it is an actual/real college you are enrolling with not just a money making scam. :angry:
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by sam_mead12
I have joined the Student room to look for a reputable college. My daughter has studied with The Open Study College and after completion of 2 courses bought at the same time, she was looking forward to applying and being placed in a job only to discover that both courses have no recognition or authority whatsoever! Despite over a year of study, she remains unqualified. In hindsight, the lack of support or communication from this company makes a lot more sense. They are not going to waste time on teaching a course that ultimately has no outcome. I have tried contacting the college and my calls are never returned. I know it was a mistake on my part, not researching enough as I should have checked more thoroughly - upon checking there is lots of negative reviews. Unfortunately, this time duped, so for everyone else out there please do the research, ensure it is an actual/real college you are enrolling with not just a money making scam. :angry:

Hi thank you for sharing your experience, I am sorry that, that happened to your daughter, as someone who has also just left University and doesn't want to pursue a career directly in line with their degree I was thinking about taking another A level so that I could be considered for a Masters in Environmental science, I can came across the Open study college as they run a Environmental Science A level, something I never heard of whilst at school but could be perfect, however now quite un nerved considering what you have just said! I wondered if it may have been the type of course your daughter took that was the problem or whether all of the qualifications associated with the college are not useful?

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