The Open University

For anyone like myself that did not take the standard University route, the Open University is there to give us a second chance, the first thing I would say if the freedom of choice that is available, whether you want to complete a degree, obtain a masters, or just take some courses for your own pleasure.

An ideal place for anyone to start who for whatever reason has decided to start studying, but maybe you don't know which route of study you want to take, or even you may want to pick a wide range of subjects.
Within the route to a degree there are three levels of study, Level 1, level 2, and Level 3, and the courses within these are for 30 or 60 points worth of credit, for example someone wanting to get a degree in general you study 120 points at level 1 and 2, level 4 if you study 6o points this is a Degree, or if you want to study 120 points at Level 3 subject to passing you get a BA Hons.

A good starting place is a section of courses called openings, these courses last for approximately 12 weeks and start from £115, you can pay upfront for the course, or you can use Tesco club card points, currently they are 3 times the face value, and are valid for Level One courses include the openings. As it may sound daft but an openings course is a level one, but they are generally 0 or 15 points value.
Most subjects have an openings course available, from law, Managing People, Maths, Business Studies, Book-keeping, psychology and sociology.

Each course examines the role of change that happens in our lives, and from our live experiences, each course you are allocated a tutor, generally you have a telephone consultation at the start and near the end of the course, but any problems you can always contact your tutor if you need help, there is also a forum related to your course, so that you can chat to other students on the same course.

All your materials in terms of books, DVDs, cd-roms are sent to your home address as well as course programme. When you enrol you are also given an ID number and password which you use to log into the student section of the OU website, where you will find information related to your course.
Homework, this may sound a bit mad, but don't panic, during your studying you have a weekly calendar, that tells you where you should be up to, generally on a level one course, and openings the Open Uni estimate that you need to have 8 hours for studying.

During your course, your work through a work book, and then during this period you will submit assignments to your tutor, all the information is on the student home page. Your assignments are marked by your tutor, with the exception of the end of course assignments, which is marked by another tutor.

I've just tried to give a general overview into the openings course, as when you study all the information you need is on the student homepage. I will be entirely honest I have good days while I feel on top of the world, an odd bad day, when I could throw the books out of the window, but that life. I've been studying with the Open University for five years and love it. I like the freedom to study at home, although I need to be disciplined, as I can get lead astray. I have 2 opening courses, and found them very useful, as it's like dipping your toe in the water, to see of its warm enough to go it.