The Open University Reviews

What can one truly expect from a university that accepts absolutely everyone, regardless of academic background, preparation, or previous achievement? The answer is simple: you get exactly what you’d expect. The Open University is, quite frankly, the council estate of UK higher education. It may be large, it may be well-established, and it certainly knows how to advertise itself — but the reality is mass education on a conveyor belt. You’re not a student with a name. You’re a number in a system. A file. A data point. The academic experience? Inconsistent at best. In one class you’ll find someone with years of professional and academic experience — and right next to them, someone who just googled “how to write an essay” last night. It creates not a rich learning environment, but an intellectual dissonance. As for the ideological climate — let’s just say: the university has chosen a very clear political direction, and it’s leaning so far left it might fall over. For students with traditional values, a belief in family, faith, and real equality (not selective equality), the experience can feel less like education and more like quiet indoctrination. Not in your face — but always there, in the tone, in the curriculum, in the “expected” responses. Of course, I believe in dignity and respect for all people. But no one should be treated differently based on ideology. Unfortunately, that principle doesn’t seem to hold much weight anymore in this institution. And finally — prestige. Let’s be honest: Having a degree from The Open University doesn’t carry the same weight or respect as degrees from more selective, academically rigorous universities. You don’t say with pride, “I studied at the Open University.” You say it with a slight pause, hoping the subject will move on. In short: accessible? Yes. Affordable? Often. Prestigious or intellectually fulfilling? Not really.

I have completed 4 out of 6 years studying towards a degree with the Open University. If I had realised what studying with the open university would really be like I would never have gone down this route, but now I am financially committed with no option to get out with fees increasing drastically year on year and the overall "service" reducing in my opinion. Most of the time I attend the online tutorials, I leave more confused than when I went into them and there are no longer any face to face tutorials. Tutor support is minimal - queries often don't get answered for days on end. I understand that this is distance learning, but for the fees that you pay year on year you do not get a lot for your money especially with text books and module materials having been scrapped.