Correct on both counts (current OU student). 120 credits = full time studies, 40 hours per week. So 30 is 10 hours, 60 credits is 20 hours. This is of course

Correct on both counts (current OU student). 120 credits = full time studies, 40 hours per week. So 30 is 10 hours, 60 credits is 20 hours. This is of course an estimate. Some weeks you have assignments due as well as course material to study. There's a two week break for Christmas and usually one week around Easter and that's it. If you work full time and you're doing 60 credits that'll take you 6 years working 60 hour weeks, maybe more, assuming your job is just 40. I did an FOIA request. After 11 years of study (11 picked because I wanted to confirm a comment on the guardian), of those students who have ever indicated formally they want to obtain a bachelors, around 15% have actually done so. If the student has self declared a mental health disability the figure drops to 9%. Last academic year 55% of students passed their modules across all modules. This excludes students who opted to defer or refund within the grace period at the start of the module. Cost wise these days on UK or EU fees it's about £3k for a 60 credit module. Personally if I knew what I knew now, I'd go back to full time education. Edit to say: the course is flexible in the sense study timed are not fixed and nobody cares if you turn up to tutorials, often done online, or not. It is not at all flexible on deadlines of any kind. On a 60 credit module you could easily have one assignment per month, plus an exam at the end. The assignments, depending on your level, aren't necessarily that challenging but they do take time. If something comes up at work or in life and knocks you back, you either accept the damage to your grade and complete the module or you defer. Definitely don't go via the OU if you have a demanding job with unpredictable requirements.