The short answer is that it's tough. One of the ways they mitigate the impact of that is by making it maths and physics rather than just straight physics, which reduces slightly the requirements for practical experiment. In the early units there are a number of straight forward experiments that...
Hi Bruce, I'm currently studying the BSc Mathematics & Physics course at the OU, happy to answer any questions you may have. I echo Jonathan's comments about the quality of the OU course materials, and the content of the Maths & Physics course in particular (at least so far as the level 1...