Where do I want to go?
Where do I want to go?
The OU appreciates that there are many different motivations for wanting to study. For some it is a personal ambition after leaving school with no qualifications, for others it’s career development or simply a thirst for knowledge. Whatever your motivation or aspirations, the OU can help you achieve your goals.
In the following film clip UNISON member and Nursing Auxillary, Sinead Gormley tells us of her career goals and her unique route back into education.
All OU courses are designed to improve your confidence and skills and to help you realise your career and personal ambitions. You might be looking to enhance your current role, move onward with your longer term career plans or perhaps even pursue a complete change in career direction. Whatever you want to achieve – the OU can help.
Careers Advisory Service
The OU has a full range of subjects that you can choose to study, depending on your personal career goals and aspirations. If you are unsure about exactly what you want to do or how to achieve it, we have an OU Careers Advisory Service that would be pleased to help you. You can request a copy of OU Study and Your Career, which looks in detail at different motivations for studying and provides helpful tips on choosing the right course and career for you. For more information please visit the OU’s award winning Careers Advisory Service website, which gives you all this advice plus helpful tips on interview techniques and writing your CV.
Working in the health and social care sector
If you currently work in the health and social care sector, or are thinking about pursuing a career in this field, the OU has a number of study options available to you.
Health and social care is a vast service sector that is constantly evolving and growing to meet the increased demands placed upon it by government initiatives and an ever-demanding service user population. There are a variety of job roles in this sector including: social worker, healthcare assistant, teaching assistant, residential care worker, mental health nurse, healthcare manager, youth worker, paramedic and adult nurse, to name but a few. Whatever your current role or your end goal, the OU is well placed to help you meet the demands of working in health and social care with its wide range of professionally relevant, work-based, education and training opportunities.
A new career?
If you are interested in becoming a social worker, you will be excited to learn that the OU is the UK’s largest provider of part-time social work training. You could start on an honours degree with the OU today, which could, when completed, see you registered as a qualified social worker (subject to meeting entry requirements).
The OU also offers a Pre-Registration Nursing Programme, ideal for those who are hoping to move into nursing without having to give up their salary. The OU’s pre-registration nursing programme has two branches: Adult Nursing and Mental Health Nursing. Both of which (when successfully completed) lead to the professional qualification of Registered Nurse on the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) Register.
Click the film clip below to hear successful Openings student Emma tell us how OU study has helped her on the way to realising her dream of becoming a nurse.
For detailed information about either of these two exciting career opportunities, just follow the link to the OU’s Professional programmes section of this website.
Enhancing your current role – opening new doors
If you already work in the health and social care sector and want to enhance your current role, or open the door to new opportunities, the OU offers a range of development opportunities. You can study a course as a one-off professional development opportunity or you can work towards a new award or qualification that will help you to progress up the career ladder.
The links below take you to examples of how studying with the OU can help you with your personal and professional development.
Professionals working in palliative care
Residential care support worker