Basically, I left university without finishing more than half my course. I wasn’t interested in the topic (civil engineering) so I left with some debts and not too much else. Two other factors, I have an offer from my Dad for help with fees and a child on the way in the new year. Before its too late I was thinking of some way of getting a degree again.
I’m just not too sure about what options are open to me. I work in a university (the one I dropped out of) and one staff member used to lecture in the Open University. He reckoned that an OU degree was good for my circumstances if I wished to work and also study towards a degree. This was both in general and also compared to part time through the university where I work.
Has anyone experience of an OU degree or tried to study part time towards a degree in the UK?
Not personally, but my wife has recently finished her OU degree course. It took 5/6 years (sorry, not quite sure) but you can do more than one module at a time to speed things up. From my observation of her, you need to be able to sit down practically every day, even when you’ve been working (she has a full time job) and do at least a couple of hours studying. I estimate it cost between £2-2500 just for the fees plus costs for summer schools etc.
There were times when she had unhelpful tutors and felt like packing it all in and you need a friend or family member to help you through it. The OU will not try to convince you to carry on- they don’t seem to care. Her friend who started the same time had some domestic upheaval, stopped doing the course and nobody apparently got in touch to persuade her to continue.
You probably knew all this but at least it might bump the thread to the top again. 
I had only heard my fellow staff member and a friend talk about people they knew who’d done OU degrees, no-one I’d spoken to had personally taken one.
I’ve only just started to think about this seriously (having had other concerns to sort out first) so I was wondering if there was anything anecdotal before I beleive all the bumpf that I’ve heard from institutions themselves.
I hope you get a response from someone who’s actually gone through the OU.
Obviously Oxbridge it’s not, but employers look upon it quite favourably now because the students have had to put considerable time and effort into it as well as often having other commitments, which shows application.
You don’t get the interaction with other students (at least not as much) but neither are you distracted by mates desperately needing to get down the pub.
There is an on-line facility where you can mix with other folk though and sometimes learn some useful tips from people who have already done what you’re presently doing!
My wife did it for pleasure (the degree I mean) and apart from one very, very pedantic tutor who almost ruined the module for her she thoroughly enjoyed it.