I considered doing an MBA with the OU. I called up, but I'd "missed the deadline", and I haven't gone back. The next round was starting in 3 or 6 months or something, not to mention it'd cost me several £k. In the meantime I've continued to take many courses on Coursera.

The only time a certificate would be useful to me would be if I wanted to change career. Other than that, I just want the knowledge, and Coursera lets me blast through courses to get top quality information. I love it.

OU is legit. My pal did Physics, then got into an engineering masters at a good university, then did a data science for grads transition course.

Flexible course curriculum but it seems they give you the stamp you need to get to the next level, and perhaps more importantly, the flexibility to do it at your own pace. It may be that as you say you can pick your curriculum to be shallow, I don’t know the details I’m afraid.

I think a lot of roles just care about box-ticking; degree in CS or related STEM field. The recruiter doesn’t care where from if you tick the box. In some sense it’s BS, and Coursera may be the cheapest way to hack the system here.

My friend found it really rewarding and empowering to get his degree even though he took a detour to get it, so i can at least provide a third-hand vouching for the quality of OU from an educational content perspective, as well as passing the bar for credentialism too.

Caveat Emptor, I don’t have any positive or negative testimonials on Coursera for getting a job. And I’d actually suggest in software that you can get into the field without a degree much more easily than other STEM fields. But if you’re not in a tech hub then the credential might help you to get a foot in the door if you are otherwise struggling to see a way to do so.

Was your friend UK based? Very cool that your friend was able to get into a good masters program (that’s part of the reason I’m considering going back) although I’m confused on how a physics degree works through distance learning. Do those not typically involve labs with millions of dollars worth of scientific equipment? I’m going to have to call a few schools I’m looking at to verify their programs are 100% distance learning, because while the marketing material claims that, many of the program courses seem to indicate otherwise.

Yep, UK based.

I also did a physics undergrad (in person) and can attest that most of the classes these days are theory-based. Lots of maths; Quantum Mechanics is all maths, Nuclear/Particle is all theoretical/computational (though at the point of masters/PhD you would get to fire lasers at real things, I never did though). I did have one experimental lab class where we practiced measurements of various sorts, but that was maybe 10-20% of the first couple years. You could take different electives that emphasize experimental physics more, but the theory is plenty deep to keep you busy without compromising. So if you want to learn quantum physics or stellar nuclear physics for example you don’t need a lab at all.

I know two people with OU degrees (CS and Law respectively) and their qualifications are proper, legitimate degrees. The content seemed as challenging (frequently more so) as the material I had to contend with doing a full-time three year degree. But they did it over eight years while also doing a full-time day job. Anyone who can do that has my sincere admiration. I'm pretty sure I couldn't do it.

I agree 100%, I have a deep respect for those doing a degree at their own pace and along side a 9-5. I loved studying at uni but I don’t think I could sustain that.