study at open university for 2 years instead of 3?

hi, i was wondering if it was possible to complete my degree faster? i’m interested in engineering.

i did 6 months of engineering at a brick uni (almost finished my modules!), but took time out because of personal problems. i’m thinking of switching to the open university for my second year, however, my modules were half completed and my university disregarded them because i didn’t finish them. so because the modules were disregarded i earned no credit.

is there a way to get straight onto second year? or rather, abridge my studies into 2 years instead of 3? my time off uni didn’t go to plan and i really am dreading repeating first year again. i just want to get this degree.

any insight would be welcomed!

Reply 1

Scienceisgood

I would discuss this with your course leader but I would say it is unlikely.
Typically third years consists of somewhere between 75%-80% of your entire degree. A lot of students (not saying you) don’t realise how heavily third year weighs and to try and add more on top of it is killer!

My housemates didn’t realise the level of work that they were in for and ALL of them failed the year (I’ll admit the majority of the time, they spent their time high or playing console games though). Your final year is much harder than second year.

My course is 180 credits in one year and come March, I hit the wall and was internally thinking to myself “I just want this crap over with now!”…
It’s a Masters course in Biomedical Science (same as my BSc but I went to work in the NHS for 3 years before going to do my MSc). A standard BSc course is only 120 credits per year.

Not many people will be able to juggle it, fair warning.

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 2

MDB512024

The vast majority of open university courses are either 3 years if you study full-time or 6 years if you do part-time, once you have discussed this with your course leader as previously suggested, I would recommend contacting the open university and putting your enquiries to a student adviser but only after you have had the conversation with your course leader 1st.

Reply 3

Anonymous #2

Look through the OU's academic regulations to find their policy about studying more than 120 credits per year.
To paraphrase:

If you live in England: Completely impossible under any circumstances, forget about it.

If you don't live in England: Only allowed in very rare special situations, usually related to students who are about to hit a time limit or are studying a qualification that's about to be withdrawn.

Regardless of where you live, it's safe to say that just wanting to finish faster won't be enough of a reason.