Studying Through The Open University

I am the most indecisive person you will ever meet when it comes to long term decisions. So when I finally decided on what I wanted to achieve career wise it came as a bit of a shock to myself. I’ve tried a lot of different career paths over the years… One thing you can’t say about me is that I don’t try.

So sometime after having Ezra (who’s 4 this year) I decided that I wanted to write. I had no idea what mind you, just that it was something I wanted to do. Fast forward a year or two, some soul searching and some blog writing. I decided to enrol onto an online degree in creative writing and English literature.

Some background information here. I did go to college and start an Access to Humanities course with the plan of getting into a good brick university to study English. However, I realised that after a few months I was left skint, in debt and struggling to pay bus pass let alone for a child and myself. There’s only so many hours you can work when you’re in college 4 days a week.

Anyway, back to the degree.

My plan is to study part time this year due to differing start dates for full time and part time meaning I’d have to wait to study if I went full time. Then I’m able to switch to full time and complete the whole thing in around 4 years and a few months.

With the open university most courses don’t require qualifications to study. This is because the degrees are a year longer than your average degree. They start with an introductory year where you study a few different subjects in relation to your chosen degree that give you a good base knowledge and get you up to degree level. They teach you study skills, how to write essays and how to reference.

I received all of my study materials by post and everything you need to know about studying with the OU is written in the handbook. You get a selection of textbooks and DVD’s for studying. There are tutor days where you can travel to your nearest OU centre to study and they also do online tutorials you can take part in. You can easily contact your tutor through, email or phone. There are also forums for students to chat amongst each other. So there is plenty of support to replace that of what you’d have in a brick university.

Student finance is pretty much the same as student finance for a brick university so don’t let that put you off either.

So so far, so good.

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