You can count approved collaborative courses towards the BA/BSc Open degree in the same way as OU courses (in accordance with the prevailing qualification regulations). They will appear on your academic transcript with a title, academic level, and grade. In some cases, collaborative courses can also count towards degrees in named subjects (please see the course entries in "What can I Study") and will count towards the classification of your OU degree.
Please note: There are rules governing both the maximum award of collaborative credit, and the combination of collaborative and transferred credit within Open University degrees. Please check the regulations of the particular OU qualification you wish to study towards.
Before registering on a collaborative course, please contact:
The Credit Transfer Centre
The Open University
P O Box 80
Milton Keynes
MK7 6AS
United Kingdom
Phone +44 (0)1908 653077
Email credit-transfer@open.ac.uk
Our specialist credit transfer advisers can then look at your OU study record and ensure that you will be able to use your collaborative-course credit towards your chosen OU qualification.
You do not need to complete an OU Credit Transfer Application Form in order to apply for collaborative credit. We receive official course registration lists directly from the partner institution.
Collaborative courses are run by the universities concerned, not by The Open University.
Registration takes place via the collaborating institution and student loans may not be available.
The methods of teaching and assessment, and the arrangements for application, registration and fee payment are therefore likely to be quite different from those of the Open University.
You will need to contact the university at which you wish to study a collaborative course for details about course fees, payments, fee refunds, etc.
For some collaborative courses, the period of study is the conventional academic year (October to July), others follow the calendar year. The method of teaching varies between schemes: some offer full-time study, some part-time study and some distance learning.
