r/OpenUniversity

Crash course

Hi I’m applying for OU in October to do a BSc in IT. I won’t have time to apply for the access module so I’m wondering what materials I should study beforehand. I’ve been out of education for almost 20 years so assume I know nothing. I’d hopefully like to learn basic coding and have an experience writing essays so I don’t have to hit the ground running.

Any material or links you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

reddit.com
u/Acceptable_Power9066 — 7 hours ago

Studying Psychology in Open University

I have been in tech for 20 years and being a psychologist was always at the back of my mind. The greed of the tech companies started making me tired. Now i wonder if studying psychology in Open University opens any doors for me. To become a clinical psychologist I need to do masters as far as I know.

Is there anyone who studied psychology there and how is your work life now? Are you practicing it, or doing any consultancy work?or anything else? Is age an issue after graduation?

reddit.com
u/Unable_Helicopter_58 — 18 hours ago

Has student Finance England opened up for new part-time applications for the October 2026??

I need to make another application for my course starting in 2026 October however for some reason my page says “you’ve made applications for all existing years” ….i don’t understand what this means. Have they just not opened up their applications or….?

reddit.com
u/Actual-Donkey-3216 — 16 hours ago

Login issues

Anyone else unable to login at the moment? Keeps coming up with this:

Open University Authorisation Error

We were unable to verify whether you are authorised to access this page.

This could be for the following reasons:

The page you wanted to see is not yet available for viewing

There was a temporary error in validating your access credentials

I've tried multiple browsers. Thanks in advance.

reddit.com
u/SarahJF89 — 7 hours ago

Is the Open University right for me? If not, what do I do?

Help! I'm stuck. I am 32, and currently on disability benefits. I have worked cleaning jobs, retail, and support working roles in the past. Most of the jobs I've had I haven't held down for more than a couple of months, due to my mental health, or not being very good at them and people getting frustrated with me. I've tried to get a job more recently, but I've not had any luck. I'm terrible at interviews.

I don't have any qualifications that can help me to get a job. I've got a pass in my Level 2 and BTEC Diploma in Art and Design. I've also got a merit in my first year of health and social care. I didn't finish the second year. I've also done two Access courses. Neither one I finished. I'm unsure if they will give me another loan.

I did want to become a mental health nurse, but my mental health team said that I can't be a nurse, because my mental health might count against me. They said that I will find it too stressful and that they have to go to court when something goes wrong. They told me I should be a support worker because it is less responsibility. The thing with being a support worker is is that most of them need you to be a driver, but I can't afford to drive. I'm also not allowed to drive because of my medication.

I've thought about doing an Open University degree in psychology or buisness, but I struggled to do the Open Learn courses.

I'm not very good at a lot of things. I'm rubbish with my hands, and I am not the smartest person on the planet. I'm stuck.

All I want is to be financially comfortable, have a pension and to be able to go on holiday.

reddit.com
u/CandidBar4794 — 1 day ago

EMA marking

I'm doing A363-25J at the mo and it says my EMA will be marked by two tutors/members of the module team - does anyone know if one of those will be my regular tutor or if they try to mix it up completely?

reddit.com
u/Ferret_Sandwich — 1 hour ago

How will deferring my modules affect my Student Finance?

So I previously got funding for 2 modules worth 120 credits but I withdrew from these as I wasn't enjoying them, I withdrew around March.

I'm currently doing Modules I am really enjoying worth 120 credits as well, however due to circumstances I have to defer these to the next academic year, I didn't realize how intense they'd be with me also working which is manageable but my mum recently got a surgery and I have increased responsibilities and I've lately been having so many panic attacks and anxiety attacks and it's a very terrible time for me right now and I can't even think about my studies.

I'm so scared that if I defer I won't be eligible to SFE for these modules again because they count toward stage 1 for my BSc Qualification. I was wondering if any of you guys had similar experiences with SFE and re-applying??

reddit.com
u/Thick_Brilliant5415 — 14 hours ago

40 yr old Starting Access Module Y033 this year

Hello all. i have been accepted onto the Science, technology and maths Access module Y033 starting later this year.

Im looking for any suggestions from folks on what i can do in preparation for it. Books i can read, websites i can look at or Youtube channels i can watch. Stuff like that.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

reddit.com
u/orkcol_kro — 1 day ago

[SURVEY] (URGENTLY NEED PARTICIPANTS) Age, Media Exposure, Direct Contact & Attitudes Towards LGBTQIA+ Individuals

Hi guys! OU BSc Psychology and Counselling student here. I still need around 30 participants to fill out my survey for my DE300 final project! I'm investing how strongly UK people's attitudes towards LGBTQIA+ people are associated with their age, exposure to media, and direct contact with LGBTQIA+ people. Only requirements are that you're over 18 and in the UK. Your participation would be greatly appreciated! It should take you around 15 minutes to complete. https://openss.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dp18jOyY0W3HSSi

reddit.com
u/DisposableEnbrella — 1 day ago

How disastrous is a poor EMA?

Currently doing A113, the last stage 1 module of History.

Had a choice of examples to pick and talk about for my EMA, none of them were particularly engaging for me, and the one area I really enjoyed didn't have an EMA equivalent question to choose.

With that in mind, given all my other TMA results for this module being mid 70s, how bad would a 'pass' but-not-great EMA be on the overall module result? I will work diligently on it but I'm not intending to lose sleep over it if I make a meal of it?

reddit.com
u/Three_Steaks_Pam — 1 day ago

Struggling to pick, looking for opinions on the following modules: B327, E302, A350, B329, DD318, D360

Struggling to choose what module to do for my final year of my open degree, can anyone provide any insight into what they thought of any of the above modules, any comments are appreciated!

reddit.com
u/RedPaladin9 — 1 day ago
🔥 Hot ▲ 91 r/OpenUniversity

Dead chuffed, huge doubts but on the right track

Been out of academia for the longest time, this feels unreal because I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing lol starting to feel proud of myself though. I’m switching to full time in October and I heard securing good scores is challenging. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

u/ElvenLogicx — 2 days ago

[SURVEY] 10 Participants Needed Online Engagement, Social Connectedness and Self-Esteem in Adults (Adult 18+)

Hello All, 

I am looking for around 10 participants who would be interested in taking part in my survey which should take 10-15 minute max.

This is for my OU DE300 project

I am interested in Online Social Engagement and Social Connectedness as Predictors of Self-Esteem in Adults

Only requirements are that you be 18+ and are able to complete this survey in English.

Your participation is very much appreciated

Many thanks

reddit.com
u/reginaldlionhart — 1 day ago

Has Anyone done/doing the MSc Mathematics Course? I'd like some insight into it

Currently on the BSc Mathematics and physics Course after having changed from BSc Physics because I really wanted to do more math heavy modules. I've been looking at post-grad degrees like theoretical physics, astrophysics and applied mathematics so far. I saw that the OU offers MSc in Math and looking through the modules offered, it's a fairly nice course.

The main reason I'd go for this is because of the tuition fee, I don't think I'd find a more affordable course unless I do my masters part-time at a brick uni which comes to about 7.5k a year. Whereas the course offered by the OU is around 8k if I were to do it full-time and finish it in a year. I am able to go to a brick university though and there's nothing stopping me, I'm also wondering if it's worth doing my masters online having done my undergrad online, I do want to experience attending physical lectures. But if it's in my best interest I'll rather do the Math course the OU offers.

I was wondering if I could have some insight from somebody who's currently on this course?What is it like in terms of the workload? Is the course comparable to that of the math courses offered at universities like York/Bristol/Southampton (Not expecting oxbridge and Harvard level Rigor). How involved can you get in terms of being able to attend in person events etc and taking part in research and collaborating with other students/lecturers since there are a lot of modules with applied mathematics as well. And importantly What field do you guys plan on going into after completing this course? Any insight into this would be greatly appreciated, thank you so much GUYS!!!!

reddit.com
u/sesameprawntoast50 — 1 day ago

Student email verification

I have tried using my OU email id with the @ou.ac.uk but it doesnt seem to get verified anywhere and I dont get the student discount, anyone have a idea whats the problem?

reddit.com
u/AllBest-Gaming — 1 day ago

[SURVEY] Last attempt at recruiting participants for my DE300 project, please help if you can!

Today is the last day for my survey as I'm quite behind and need to start analysing data/writing up my EMA so please help and take part!

Open University DE300 Investigating Psychology final project - survey on parent/child emotional regulation.

I'm looking for participants who are parents, are in a romantic relationship, and have a child between the ages of 4-12.

My project explores how parents’ emotion regulation strategies and attachment styles are related to their children’s emotional and behavioural outcomes.

It takes about 10-15 mins to complete.
https://openss.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2fx59Zdmnle9BKC

P.S. Thank you to everyone who helped last time I posted about this, it was so appreciated!!

reddit.com
u/THROWAWAY_3343782y4 — 1 day ago

Refreshing the Assignments page over and over, thinking it will magically make my grade appear.

I spoke to my tutor recently and they told me they were snowed under and doing their best, but I really want to know my grade. I'm a few weeks out of finishing my degree so I'm massively nervous, I've never been so impatient with my results before! I have to work on my EMA but I desperately want to know how I did before putting loads of work into it and learning I've been doing it all wrong 😭

reddit.com
u/Not_Invited — 1 day ago

Referral for Academic Conduct?

I’ve recieved an email advising that my EMA has been referred for Academic Conduct shortly after an email advising that 2 module results will be delayed due to an issue affecting the system used by Award Boards to review and approve results.

I’m in the last year of my degree and this has never happened to me and it’s scary. I don’t use generative AI or any spell check type of things or “cheat” websites. I’m really worried. Does anyone have experience in having this happened and able to provide an insight?

Any comments and advice appreciated

reddit.com
u/Kurdise — 2 days ago

I’m considering a career in IT

I never went to college and have no A-levels. I’m competent with algebra, yet I don’t think I have the processing power to do calculus and I can’t code. That being said I want to go straight into an IT bachelors degree. The cut off period for enrolling is October, that gives me about 5 months of prep time. Do you think it’s possible for me to learn the prerequisite skills one would learn in college before then? Also what foundational skills should I learn in the meantime?

I hear people get crash course degrees in less than a year, although I doubt I’d be able to do that it gives me hope.

I want to learn to code and work in the tech field and am willing to work my ass off for it.

Im mainly asking for a list of foundational skills, possible links to materials that would help me and whether you think it’s possible for me to get ready for a degree in 5 months.

I already greatly appreciate any response and any help because this has been causing me a deal of anxiety, it is after all a great deal of debt I’ll be taking on and between 3-6 years of my life.

reddit.com
u/Acceptable_Power9066 — 2 days ago