Open University vs Home Study

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I shall start by introducing myself. I am a 21 year old who is very interested in computers. At school i chose sport courses over computer courses and the same happened at college. I chose to do Sport instead of computers. The only course i have done is to sign up to a short Web Design course at the Open University around 3 years ago which i completed.

Although i have never properly studied computers i would like to think i am an advanced user as i have always designed and built my own websites in the past and also built my computers. I am able to go round to other peoples houses and troubleshoot and fix there computers for them whether it be technical, hardware or network issues.

Anyway more to the point im now at a stage where i actually would like to not just say i know about computers but actually get a qualification in them and push towards a job in the industry. I have looked into the Computing Degree at the open university and seen that really it would take me around 5-6 years to complete all the courses and cost me around 5k to pay for all the courses that are needed to get the computing degree.

I spoke to a friend and he explained to me that he had done alot of self studying then booked courses with local colleges to just do the exams and he also directed me to this website.

I have had a good flick around the website and read some threads of the Open University and seen that people do rate it but just in general i wanted to start a thread on what people think my best option would be. Do i start working my way through the 10 odd courses that the Open University have to offer or would you think that Self studying would be my better option baring in mind i am in full time work.

Any help or links to previous threads where this may have been discussed in the past is much appreciated. I would imagine there would be a thread on here as well on how to really go about self studying and where to start as well if someone has a link handy.

Thanks

Jason

 

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Hi jvanassen,

Do you have any local colleges ? Have you looked at their offerings ? Things like Foundation Degrees and HNC/HND's ?

Welcome to certforums !

 

Yea there is both a local college and local University in a town nearby, Southend. But i am not sure what to look at as i am not sure where to start. If the general response here was that home study would be better than Open Uni i was going to ask where i should start and what exams i should try and begin with.

 

Colleges and Universities normally have relatively unbiased advice. Open University also has course advisors and open days.

Check them all out and see what you think, then make a decision.

Self study is the preferred option for most people for certs. However you maybe should consider academic and vocational routes as well.

 

Yea at the moment im edging more towards the Open University because you have an actual syllabus to work through and im not to sure where to start with home studying. Do you know of any useful links that explain what certs are best to start with etc?

 

There ya go

http://www.certforums.co.uk/forums/thread11894.html

 

Ok thanks for all your help all, just found another thread on this forum of another guy that was starting out fresh and alot of people advised him to start off with his comptia A+ rather than a degree. So im going to start off with that and then once thats completed then maybe look into a degree or other Certs.

Thanks!