Open University but no leaving cert

bohochic

Hey I am 20 years old and left school when I was 18 due to health problems so I never got to finish my leaving cert. I was wondering would I be able to study with the Open University without having my leaving Cert? Would it also be okay if someone could explain abit about what would be involved in studying there, would I have to travel for examines and how does the system work?

BuffyBot

The OU has no entry qualifications - so you can start studying without any Leaving Cert etc.

Define "explain a bit" - if you ask specific questions, you'll get better answers as people know exactly what you need to know. You should also read this thread - it's long, but you'll find it useful

Re: Exams - if you're course has an exam, you'll have to travel to it. There are normally locations close enough to you (i.e in Ireland there would be centres in Dublin, Cork, Belfast for example).

brownmini

bohochic wrote: »

Hey I am 20 years old and left school when I was 18 due to health problems so I never got to finish my leaving cert. I was wondering would I be able to study with the Open University without having my leaving Cert? Would it also be okay if someone could explain abit about what would be involved in studying there, would I have to travel for examines and how does the system work?

Yes...the OU will take you without any points at all.

Log on to the OU website, search through their courses.
Somewhere on each page it will say "enroll" or something similar.
You register your details.
You can pay using three options but I think in Ireland, the creditcard is the usual one.
Sadly, the fees are more expensive here because the OU does not get a UK grant for taking non UK students.
So if you see that the course fee is 305 pounds - make sure you click the dropdown box to pick your country. Then sit down!!
The jump in price can be offputting.
Eventually if you enroll on a course, there will be a tutor allocated to you.
Depneding on the course, tutorials happen now&again.
The tutor wil send you a listing of where the classes will be and when.
Sometimes more than one classes will be formed and two tutors might be in the same area.
If the times of one tutorial doesnt suit you - ask to sit in on another one - there is normally no problem.
Sometimes the tutor will be from Northern Ireland.
Sometimes it can be a day out to go up to Belfast to attend a class up there.

There is a web-based forum called FIRSTCLASS which you will have access to with your StudentID number and some password.
You do maybe 3 or 4 assignments during the course...and depending on the course maybe an end of course exam or a project or some sort.
Again there are exam centres around Ireland or you can elect to sit the exam somewhere other than your nearest one. I sat a few exams in Athlone when my nearest was Dublin.

If you pass the course, you get points...
Each course is worth so many points.
Gather the points together and enough points from each level of course..i.e.120 points at level 1, 120 at level 2 and 120 at level 3 and
hey presto! you get a nice message on your student homepage telling you have an offer waiting for you.
The offer will be to accept a degree of a certain classification (First, Second, Third or Pass)
The classification is determined by your marks from any course above Level1. If you score 86% in all exams the you will get a "First".
Its just like the results A, B, C, D.

Then if you accept... you will get a few more emails and you logon to another webpage make certain that they get the spelling of your name right on the degree itself.
Then sometime around April or May, the OU comes to town, Your mam and dad get all dressed up and off you go for a nice little presentation ceremony full of the grand ways of the OU complete with a nice length of plush carpet to walk across to shake hands with the OU Boss.

It will take you 5 years at least. Some will do it in 6, many do it in 7 or 8.

It is a tough road. 7 years of studying and doing everything else is tough.
You will want to give-up.
If you stick at it...the day will come when you will walk across that carpet.

It is not cheap. the only discount is the tax-refund which goes back into the OU for the next year fees.




Hows that ?
Make any sense ?

boodlesdoodles

To the OP, I'm at the beginning of my OU studies nearly finished my first Arts course. While its time consuming it's been completely worth it! Don't let the length of time it takes to get a degree put you off and don't let all the info in 'brownmini's post put you off lol, you were fairly 'blinded with science' there. I've made loads of new friends and I've found my brain has started to engage again. The OU degree is recognised all over the world. I've returned to education in the last year, went to college after school like everyone else but I'm now doing something I want to do and enjoying it beyond belief. It's going to take me 6 years to do my Literature degree but that's because I'm in full time employment. Someone who wasn't in full time employment could do an honours degree in four years. Best of luck with whatever you do.

brownmini

boodlesdoodles wrote: »

To the OP, I'm at the beginning of my
OU studies nearly finished my first Arts course. While its time consuming it's been completely worth it! Don't let the length of time it takes to get a degree put you off and don't let all the info in 'brownmini's post put you off
lol, you were fairly 'blinded with science' there. I've made loads of new
friends and I've found my brain has started to engage again. The OU
degree is recognised all over the world. I've returned to education in the
last year, went to college after school like everyone else but I'm now doing
something I want to do and enjoying it beyond belief. It's going to take me
6 years to do my Literature degree but that's because I'm in full time
employment. Someone who wasn't in full time employment could do an
honours degree in four years. Best of luck with whatever you do.

Well, hmmmmm, maybe I was a bit long but it wasn't my intention to put him/her off.
Or to put anyone off.
It is a serious amount of time to dedicate to study but at the end, the
sense of getting-there is worth it.
I had some serious personal life events that made me want to throw my
hat at it but I somehow carried on.
I went through the full process and the presentation day was a nice experience.
I have some nice photos and the little cream cakes afterwards were very nice !!
The only bug in the whole OU experience is the cost of the courses but the
flexibility of studying at your own pace (TMAs permitting!!) is excellent and
yes you do meet a good bunch of similarly dedicated people.


To the original poster, if you want to try and see, you can do short
courses, 10 weeks long. The OU does them in various subjects,
I'm tempted to start on some of the science related ones myself.

Or perhaps do a Certificate which is usually made up of passing two
courses. See how you feel after doing a couple of courses.
You can roll-yer-own degree too. It doesnt have to be a fixed syllabus.
Just collect the points at each level and when you hit 360 points - bingo!

It's not the only option, if he/she lives near any college/tech/uni that does
part-time study then split each year in two (except 4th year) and do the
whole course over 7 years.

And to repeat 'boodlesdoodles' own words... "Best of luck with whatever you do."