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1 Welcome to your Open qualification
Did you know the Open degree was the OU’s first degree and it was called a ‘General BA’? It was the precursor to the BA/BSc (Hons) Open degree that we know today. The Open degree was the only degree programme awarded at the OU until the 2000s which is when named degrees were introduced. The BSc Combined STEM degree was introduced in 2017 due to student demand for an interdisciplinary Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics degree and the MA/MSc Open is our most recent addition at postgraduate level.
You can learn more about the history of the Open qualifications by visiting the Open digital exhibition [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .
Activity 2
Choose two sections of the digital archive to read. Which sections did you choose and why?
Discussion
We hope you enjoyed finding out a little more about the Open qualifications, innovative curriculum design, the value of multidisciplinary study or being a brave learner.
Open qualifications provide the opportunity to choose from a range of different subjects, allowing you to learn in different ways and to develop a wide range of skills. At other universities, multidisciplinary qualifications may include combined honours, joint honours and interdisciplinary degrees. To refresh your knowledge about Open qualifications visit the online prospectus pages for each qualification:
Reflection
Why did you/would you choose an Open qualification?
Discussion
You may have said it’s because you wanted to tailor your modules to suit your career or personal interests or perhaps you decided to change to an Open qualification part-way through your studies because you found another subject which excited you. Whatever your reasons for combining different subjects from across the curriculum, we’re delighted you’re studying an Open qualification and are able to benefit from combining different subjects!