Tim Walker

Tim wanted to improve his career prospects while serving in the police force so decided to study with the OU. He began with an access course to test the water and found the OU style of learning really suited him and gave him the confidence to carry on his studies to degree level. After completing his Law degree he secured a new position in The Witness Service - a role he loves, and he's confident his degree will continue to open doors for him in the future.

Growing up I was home educated - mostly by my own father who was a qualified teacher. This began originally due to a paperwork error at the local Primary school which left me without a place at the last minute, however necessity turned to choice when I began to engage with the wider home education community, as well as make what would become life-long friends.

At the age of 16 I decided I would like to join the Police Force and so I began looking at higher education options that would increase my career opportunities in this area for the future. I'd heard about the OU from family members so I looked into it and was impressed by the flexibility it offered, its very reasonable costs and the accessibility it offered to a wide range of modules.

I chose to study an access course before doing a degree because I wanted to get a taste of what studying with the OU was like. I'd also not decided which degree path I wanted to follow so thought the sensible thing to do would be to test the water first to see if it suited me and I could do it.

I studied Y032 People, Work and Society because it provided me with the opportunity to study a broad range of topics from economics to law and I found that it really helped equip me with the necessary skills, such as knowledge of methods of higher academic research and key critical reasoning skills, which in turn gave me the confidence to go on and study at degree level.

Once I completed my access course I registered for a law degree. I chose law because of all of the topics I studied in Y032 law stood out to me as being the most engaging for me personally because of its long history, vast applicability to ordinary day-to-day life and because of the huge amount of opportunities such a degree would offer me in the future.  I decided to do my degree at a full-time rate over three years and found this relatively straightforward as I do not have children or too many family commitments, so I could flexibly plan my study time out each week with relative ease.

Overall, I found nearly all of the materials I needed to use to be very clear and accessible. I also found my tutors for the both my access module and the first two years of my degree to be nearly always extremely helpful, kind and encouraging. I didn't get as much face to face tutorial support in my final year as I did in the first two which was a shame as I found the face to face tutorials very beneficial.

The most enjoyable challenge I faced whilst studying was my third-year research project. It was the first true opportunity I had to research and examine something I had chosen myself in great depth.

I think my time spent studying at the OU has enabled me to be both more adaptable and flexible with any new learning opportunities. It has enforced my personal drive and self-discipline which has been of great benefit to me at work.

Studying with the OU is not easy and I doubt there is single OU student or student in general that hasn't sat hunched over a laptop at 2am writing an essay, feeling overwhelmed with deadlines and day to day life and been plagued by thoughts of giving up. However, I found that as I progressed I was more and more motivated by the thought of coming away at the end of my three years of study with a degree that I could be proud of. This thought became reality at my ceremony when I stepped on to the stage to collect my degree with everyone who had supported through my studies cheering me on you on. I knew at that point that all the hard work was totally worth it.

My degree has had a big impact on my career as it has helped me to secure a position I absolutely love within The Witness Service. It will also be instrumental in helping me in future jobs and/or to peruse my LPQ should I decide to go down this route in the future.

As well as helping me progress my career, the OU also had another surprising benefit for me as I was lucky enough to meet my partner while I was attending one of the day schools in my second year. My partner wasn't attending the same event, but happened to be in the building hosting it at the time for a different event. I can safely say that without the OU I would not have met the person I am blessed to have spent the last two years with.