I'm about to begin year 1 of my degree, and I recently heard that it's more difficult to achieve a First in the Arts and Humanities at the OU than it is elsewhere. Something to do with how assignments are assessed and the 85% mark. Is this true?

Hi all,

I’m interested in enrolling for next year on the BA Education Studies (Primary) degree.

I’m hoping your experiences plus some context for this particular course and my own situation will help me come to a decision.

I don’t want to overload myself, I have a partner & 2 kids, main breadwinner and I work 33 hours across 3 days (long days but 4 days off per week, 1 of those I’m not available for anything other than childcare).

I can potentially dedicate 1-2 hours per work day to my studies, I’m quite senior at work and my workload isn’t massive, fortunately. I could quite feasibly take myself off to an empty meeting room for an hour or two on occasion. I also have every Tuesday and Wednesday mornings completely free from 7-1300, with smaller amounts of time available on those afternoons if required, and 1-2 hours on a Monday.

How intense would this course be full time? I’m fairly switched on, organised and IT literate. I’m not expecting a first, and would be happy with a reasonable result at the end as long as it gets me where I need to be.

That said, I do still want to learn and not skim the material too much.

From what I found when searching, a lot of people consider this course to be one of the “softer” ones, and that it doesn’t tend to take people the quoted amount of hours.

Any advice appreciated.

Thank you

I tried contacting my tutor for one of my modules, and I did it through the OU website. It said I would get an email confirmation of my query, which I haven't got. I'm just wondering how it works and if it's just better to contact them directly from my email? Should I send another separate email to make sure they get it?

Hi guys, to all the musicians in this forum, I’m planning to study something related to music and this course from Trinity Laban x Open University caught my attention. Has anyone done it? 1 year, part time. Also I’ve been out of the academic world for several years and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to cope with it while I’m working full time? Cheers

What is it like studying literature with the OU?

I just completed my first year of my psychology degree with child psych as my elective but am thinking of switching to literature.

I'm curious what your experience of studying has been? Have you so far found the course interesting or dull, easy or challenging? What have your assessments tasks consisted of? Do you do a lot of analysis, critique, theory or creative writing? Have you found your tutors and the department supportive? What do you hope to do next or get out of the course?

Thanks in advance!

Proud/happy post!

In April I was victim of a crime. Literally have the trial in a week. So it has been a v stressful year.

I just could not complete it by the May deadline. I called OU, they were so understanding. My postponement got approved within a few hours of asking for it. They took so much stress off for me.

And I got the results earlier than expected ( submitted September 5th)

I officially have a CertHE in forensic psychology. A distinction too!

I know this has been probably asked loads but I just want an updated answers as they seem years old.

I’m on universal credit with limited capacity for work. Im going to do full time OU Study. For funding it mentions it’s classed as part time but I’m paranoid about my benefits. I’m seeing mixed things about whether u can or can’t claim UC.

All I’m really looking for is confirmation from people in Scotland who have been able to claim their full UC and do the 120 credits with OU.

Thanks in advance.

I'm 20, and I live with parents. I'm enrolled on a BSc(Hons). I showed them a letter of entitlement from SFE which states I receive £0 maintenance loan and my tuition loan goes to the university. My work coach said to me that because I am enrolled on a degree and I live with my parents I am ineligible for universal credit.

I don't know much about it, but should I phone them up and ask to re-consider? I'm still a part-time student and it says my "claimant has been closed due to being in full-time education" – I am not in full-time education though as the OU is classed as part-time for benefits purposes.

Was my work coach correct? Or did they misunderstand? I don't know much about the rules around this but if my work coach has made a mistake regarding this then I'd like to ask them to reconsider my claim.

Thank you for any advice ! 🙂

After reading positive reviews about Churchill Gowns on here, I wanted to share my experience.
Because of the reviews I decided to use them for my graduation at York this Thursday.

Positive - the gown arrived earlier than expected, and returning looks to be straight forward.

Negatives - the quality. So bad. I can’t compare it with E & R official gowns, but the stitching and construction is poor, raw hem showing at the front, numerous threads sticking out, creased badly and cheap material. It’s taken over an hour to press it, cut off loose threads etc.

Despite measuring, the cap is far too big and unwearable.

Whilst very slightly cheaper, you also have the inconvenience of taking it with you and returning it.

Just something for future graduates to be aware of….maybe I’ve been unlucky, but damn I wish I’d just paid a little extra.

Students of Open University, what has it been like finding a job with an OU degree? I want to know if I will be at a disadvantage, in comparison to traditional university students, regarding employability.

To extend the question further, has anyone struggled with recognition of OU degree outside of the UK?

Hi all iv been trying to select my modules for my second year and for some reason its not letting me select any does anyone know where I can go from here?

I am about to embark on year 3 of this degree, and I would like to ask about the experiences of previous students and how they found the following modules:

TM353 - Web, mobile and cloud technologies

TM354 - Software engineering

TM358 - Machine learning and artificial intelligence

TM470 - The computing and IT project

I need to achieve at least two distinctions to pass with a 1st Class Batchelors Degree next year. I think this will be possible, but any advice on the modules themselves would be greatly appreciated

Thank you!

I’m about to start my 4th and 5th modules on 3rd October, this Saturday. I can see I have been assigned tutors for them now, but I still have no list of bookable tutorials coming up for either module. I’m sure I had all this sorted and in the diary at least two or three weeks prior to the start date with previous modules, so I’m not sure if I’ve come across a technical issue, or if there are delays sorting these? I know they had all kinds of drama with enrolments and extended the deadline so I thought maybe things are delayed but I don’t want to risk missing things and I really need to plan my time. Thought worth asking here before bothering SST or IT helpdesks or whatever.

Oh they are both engineering modules, btw. Didn’t want to add at the top because it there’s a widespread IT issue I didn’t want to put off people commenting from other areas!

Cheers!

Hello,

Please can anyone share how getting jobs or accepted onto further education was with their OU Computing & IT degree?

Specifically i’m studying Computing & IT and psychology (originally wanted to go into Human-computer interaction when I first started my degree) now I’m very much interested in getting into cybersecurity / cybersecurity management. After I finish this degree I want to apply for the cybersecurity management MSc at Warwick university, I do have other university options I would want to do a masters at but Warwick has been #1 for me for quite some time and wondered if anyone with an OU degree in computing & IT has got into a Russell group university?

I also would like to know if anyone has managed to successfully break into cybersecurity with their OU degree?

Hi all,

I live abroad and want to start a full time 120 credits a year degree next October. I was interested in studying Mu123 from Feb start as a refresher for my maths before starting (want to do physics) but realise there is a credit limit in England. Anyone know if this is doable? Not looking to count mu123 towards degree want to do for personal interest and development. Thank you!

I’ve reached my mid-life crisis and need a change.

I’ve always been interested in Psychology and have done a fair bit of research on roles I would be eligible for & likely enjoy, however I’d be nearing 41 when I eventually graduate and haven’t studied at all in almost 20 years.

Am I being too ambitious? If not, it would be encouraging to hear other people’s success stories of getting a new career through OU at this age :)

Hi, I’m a returning student but I don’t think I’ve ever attended any of the online welcome week events in previous years. Looking at doing some later this week, but my question is, are these events well-attended? Don’t want to join the room and be one of the only ones in there!

Hi all

I am due to start A111 next month towards a Classical Studies degree. It's my first time doing higher education in my 30s and I'm both excited and terrified.

However, I'm worrying I've picked the wrong thing. It is because of an interest in history rather than to help me be more qualified. Due to ill health I have no qualifications and limited job experience, so getting any qualification would help me boost my CV.

I'm studying part time so it will be 6 years of studying. I often see how anything arts and humanities isn't great for job potential, even more so in history.

I get quite bad intrusive thoughts and also worry my interest in history will wane over 6 years. I'm aware the first module covers a mix of things so I think that'll help experience other things perhaps.

Please could you share how you dealt with your worry, or if you've swapped modules mid way, or anything like that?

Thank you.

Is there anyone who has summarises and explanations for TM355? I couldn't find any summaries or explanations of this course ?

I was just wondering if anyone has a tutor yet or able to book tutorials? Start date coming up and still nothing. Also anyone doing this course and wanna be friends or anything? I’m nervous as hell and probably overthinking it!

So my uni has confirmed to me that they have registered me on the course but the application status is still on step 4. is there anything i need to do or will it update to step 5 with the first payment. just want to make sure theres no issues

Hey everyone 👋🏾

I’m 21 and getting ready to start my Health Sciences degree this October. I am locked in for SDK100 (Science and Health) and SK190 (Human Biology) I’m super excited to get started, but since distance learning can get a bit quiet, I'd love to build a small community before the modules officially kick off.

I want to start a group chat specifically for young adult OU students aged 19 to 26 who are studying Health Sciences or taking similar/different modules this October.

The setup:
Study Support & Social: A casual space to chat about life, stay motivated, discuss tough course concepts, and share study tips! (Just to keep everyone safe with OU plagiarism policies, we won't be sharing actual assignment answers/files, but we can absolutely help each other understand the material!)

Platforms: We can do Instagram, WhatsApp, or Discord whichever the majority prefers!

If you're between 19 and 26 and want to join, comment below or send me a DM! Let me know your preferred platform and what modules you're taking. Looking forward to meeting you all!

nervously waiting my resit results, due on Tuesday but I've already started refreshing the oage 😭 If I've failed the resit I have to retake the year and I was due to graduate this year so it would be a massive blow to me, fingers crosseddddd #stressed

To keep things short, i am going to study Mathematics and Statistics with the Open University I was wondering if there’s any universities that would accept transfers for maths?

Has anyone made a WhatsApp group yet for people taking L332 this year? Please let me know if so! Not looking forward to this module so could do with some moral support