My employer has offered to pay for me to complete an MBA, but due to work pressures the requirement to do it with the Open University has come about.Its reported as AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA certified, but is it just a waste of time? Should I take a career gap to go to a recognised business school?

Tanaka, MBS and WBS all do distance options that might carry a little more of the prestige of their parent schools.OU is supposed to be alright though.

If Distance learning is your only option (like many others in the consulting industry) go for it BUT i wont suggest you to go for an OU MBA beacuse:1) There are other DL MBA on the market in same price range and with better name recognition like Warwick, Manchester, Imperial, Henley, Durham...2) Generally DL courses arent precieved as good. From above mentioned no other University than Imperial stamp their DL MBA as a correspondence degree. So lets say having a Manchester DL wont automatically tell your prospective employer that its a Distance degree.If i was you i will take the oppurtunity even if not for the degree but for the knowledge.Good LuckACC Boy