"get your kids to take an Open University Degree."

What exposure I've had to the OU - albeit second-hand - has convinced me that the quality of tuition is jolly good and actually more rigorous and critical (by which I mean neither easier nor harder, just more useful for the student) than what I received as an undergraduate.

Otherwise for all there is to recommend it, the OU also lacks most of what University offers young people. Including the extremely broad range of subjects that can be studied. I still think it's a very good option for working adults.