Sarah Andrews works at the University of Brighton and manages a large team of student ambassadors. She is an Open degree student.
About six years ago, on a bit of a whim, I decided to register myself to study at the Open University for an Open degree. It’s a pretty life changing decision I made relatively quickly over the course of just a couple of months, and looking back I’m not sure I knew quite what I was letting myself in for – but perhaps my tips here might encourage some other prospective students to take the plunge into the joy that is a multi-disciplinary Open degree!
Plan your degree journey (but don’t be afraid to change if necessary).
I’ve heard of many an Open student that takes their degree as it comes, deciding each year which modules are appealing, and taking a winding stroll through the garden of academia! While I understand the appeal of that, it’s certainly not an approach that would have worked for me. Right from the outset I carefully considered what my degree path would involve, planning how different modules could complement each other and my employment skills, as it was always important to me that my degree ‘made sense’ to prospective employers. On the whole, I have stuck to the original plan and timeline I made six years ago, swapping just one module for something that I felt more passionate about. Most good employers value staff that want to develop themselves, and having a really carefully considered plan from the outset means that I can talk confidently to them about my studies, plans for the future and how I would be a benefit to them as an employee.
Study what you love (but you might not love it all!)
My degree is made up of a somewhat eclectic mixture of childhood and youth (with a particular focus on equality and social mobility), complemented by some statistics and project management modules. It’s an unusual mixture that seems almost unique to me – and that’s what I love about it! At heart, I’m a social sciences student – I love to understand people and what impacts them, and how to make life better for everyone – but I also find it extremely rewarding to complete a complex task really well, and how data helps us to make sense of the world. I can’t say I found my statistics units particularly easy, but I got through it with dedication and self-motivation (and possibly some chocolate!) – and those skills help transform my passion for people into really desirable employment traits that can be used in many workplaces.
Make the most of the opportunities offered to you.
One of the biggest tips I can offer to Open programme students is to grab opportunities offered to you, and recognise that the process of studying for a degree (and the activities you do as part of that) are as important as the piece of paper at the end, particularly when it comes to employability. During the course of my Open degree I’ve been involved in a variety of extracurricular activities, notably helping to deliver a fully online conference early in the Covid-19 pandemic (including introducing an MP to a large, faceless audience via Zoom!), and attending and presenting at a conference at Keele University with the Open degree team. They’ve really helped to embed and utilise the varied skills my degree has given me, and it’s only really when I look back on the past 5 years that I realise the extent of their impact on me, my self-confidence, and the employment skills that I can now evidence.
I’ll finish this by saying that, as a final year student, it feels simultaneously like my degree has lasted a lifetime, and flown by in a moment. It’s been such a big part of my life for a long time, and I’ve definitely become one of those people who will talk to anyone that will listen about their OU studies – but I’ve yet to meet anyone involved in employing people that wasn’t interested and impressed by at least some aspect of it. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the Open programme to other students wanting to do something just a bit different from one of the standard named degree paths.