Resources


Real Time Advice and Guidance Resources Section

In this section you will find:

  • Links to other OU course choice related websites
  • Links to Career Guidance websites
  • Glossary of terms
  • A qualification planner( to download)
  • Information on common diploma/degree choices for T171 students

If you are looking at this page during the live presentation sessions, just click on the webcast screen to bring it back to the front.

If you go to any of the linked sites on this page during live sessions, remember to keep the webcast screen open at all times and use the back button to return to the correct URL.

Links to other OU websites

Below you will find a list of sites to select from depending on what you need.

Want more advice?

If you want to review the advice given during the presentation, please visit the Learner’s Guide This website contains the advice given during the presentations along with hints and tips about preparing for your next course. It also has email links to the Regional Centres for further student support and advice.

Want to see the course material?

Your nearest Regional Centre may be running events where you can see the course material and talk with tutors and guidance experts.

Course materials are also held at libraries and the Regional Centres. To find out about where the course materials are held in your area, contact your Regional Centre direct. If you don’t have the contact information, go to the OU near you. You will be presented with a map from which you can choose your nearest OU Region. An address, e-mail and website link will appear.

Want to check out the requirements of a named degree?

If you want to check out the requirements for named degrees go to the named degree website. This site contains all the information you need and will base it on the courses you have taken.

 

Want to review your course options?

If you want to search and review your course and qualification options online visit the Courses and Qualifications website where you can view courses by subject area or search for a specific course.

Want to reserve a place on a course now?

If you know the course you want to take, you can reserve a place online. You won’t be asked to pay the course fee online, but it will enable you to hold a place. You will receive through the post a registration form, which you have to complete and return by a specified time.

Want to know more about Credit Transfer?

For information about how your previous study at university or higher education level might count towards a qualification, go to the Credit Transfer website.

Want a quick look at common diploma/degree choices for T171 students?

Go to diploma/degree choices to see some of the more popular choices.

 

Links to Career Guidance websites

Want access to careers advice?

The OU is currently developing its own careers advice website which should be live in August 2000. In the meantime here are some useful sites we can recommend:

http://www.kcl.ac.uk/kis/college/careers/links

Careers Web Sites

These sites have useful information about different types of career e.g. teaching, computer programming, forestry, personnel.

General

http://www.prospects.csu.ac.uk (a good place to start)

http://www.insidecareers.co.uk

 

University Sites

Most Universities have career information which is of general relevance to all in higher education. A small selection of sites is:

http://www.cas.bris.ac.uk

http://www.livjm.ac.uk/careers

http://www.careers.lon.ac.uk

 

Teaching

http://www.teach-tta.gov.uk

 

Law

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk

Volunteer Organisations

http://www.vois.org.uk

 

Opportunities for those with Disabilities

http://cando.lancs.ac.uk

Job Search and Recruitment Web Sites

Once you have identified a particular career option, or narrowed down your choice to perhaps two or three possible career paths, you can use the Internet to check out on actual jobs currently available. Examples of such web sites are:

http://www.ukdirectory.com/employ/serv.htm

http://www.lycos.com/careers

http://www.jobsite.co.uk

http://www.topjobs.net

http://www.doctorjob.co.uk

http://www.monster.co.uk

 

Want to know about professional recognition

Recognition leaflets tell you about the academic, vocational and professional areas in which Open University courses and awards can help you to gain entry or membership or exempt you from academic requirements. You can download individual leaflets from the recognition leaflets section.

Glossary of terms

Assessment

OU courses that can be used to gain a qualification have assessment. Assessment usually involves completing course assignments throughout the course and an examinable component at the end. If you want to know more visit the Learner’s Guide website.

Award

Sometime you will see the word award rather than qualification. It means the same thing.

Excluded combinations

You will see this term in the course descriptions. It means that there are other OU courses that cover similar material and so can not be linked to gain a qualification. To check a course you are interested in go to the Courses and Qualification website.

Levels

Levels are used to help describe the ‘difficulty or complexity’ of undergraduate courses. Level 1 provides a foundation by giving you a broad base understanding of a subject area and helping you to develop study skills. Level 1 courses are comparable to the first year of study in a full-time degree. Level 2 courses are comparable to the second and third year of full-time degree course. Level 3 is comparable to the final year of a full-time honours degree course.

If you want to work towards a degree qualification, you have to take a number of courses at these different levels. You should check out the requirements for each qualification, before making your degree choice.

Linking/delinking

Linking means informing the OU that you want a course to be put towards a qualification (e.g. linking courses for a qualification). You can, however, change your mind about the qualification you want up to the point that you accept an award. Therefore, you can ‘delink’ courses from a qualification. To find out more contact your nearest Regional Centre.

Points

Points are allocated to courses to:

  • the indicate how much time, on average, it takes to study the course and
  • allow you collect points towards a qualification.

When you successfully finish a course, you gain the number of points allocated to the course. The points can then be used towards a qualification. For each qualification there is an explanation of the number of points and types of courses you have to study.

Courses are usually allocated 10, 30 or 60 points. A 30 point course takes approximately 8 hours of study a week (over 32 weeks) and a 60 point course takes approximately 16 hours of study a week (over 32 weeks). 10 point courses are shorter courses, often with a residential school as a main component.

 

Prerequisites

This term is used to explain the skills and knowledge you need before you study a course. These are described in the course description under the sub-heading Entry.

Reservation

When you reserve a place on a course, it means that a place is provisionally held for you. You then have certain period to formally register. If you don’t register your place on the course will be lost. You can reserve a place on a course online.

Registration

You have to formally register to get a place on a course. To register you need to fill in a form and decide how you are going to pay the fees. If you have any questions about this contact your nearest Regional Centre.

Transferred Credit

If you have studied at higher education or university level before, even if you didn’t finish the qualification, you may be able to use your work to get credit towards a qualification– hence the term credit transfer.

 

The qualification planner to download

The qualification planner can be used to sketch out your thoughts about your future course choice. Below is a copy of the planner that you can print out and fill in later.

Download the qualification planner