Study Support

Following a hugely successful July telephone campaign – raising more than £86,000 in pledged donations – the OU’s Development Office is looking to recruit even more telephone callers to take part in the next fundraising campaign which will run for four weeks in November 2012.

Based at the Walton Hall campus in Milton Keynes, successful candidates can expect to earn £7.80 per hour, whilst knowing that the work they are doing will have a direct impact on the lives of future students.

What does it involve?
As a caller, you’ll be holding telephone conversations with OU graduates (during evenings and weekends), talking to them about the OU's mission of providing education for all, updating their details and asking them to make a donation to our fundraising projects.

There will be no cold calling – we’re contacting all our graduates in advance about the campaign, and they can opt out if they prefer. You can find out more about what being a caller is like from previous caller Marie Coles.

For more information or to obtain a copy of the application form please visit this website.

The closing date for applications is Friday 14 September at 5pm. Previous applicants need not apply.

 

Funding for future students at the OU has received a boost following the recent telephone campaign which raised £86,000.*

Generous donations were made by alumni to support a variety of OU projects including the Access to Success fund, Disabled Student Services (DSS) and TESSA.

The calling team who were local to Milton Keynes were made up of OU staff, students and alumni. Louise Liston, campaign manager says:

"I am so proud of our callers and the positive response we have had from our alumni on the telephone. Not only are people so generous at this time but we're hearing some wonderful stories about their experiences of studying with us."

Find out more:

• An interview with a caller
• Why support the OU

 

* £86,000 is the projected income from pledged donations over 2 years with gift aid.

 

Join Nicola Dandridge, Universities UK’s chief executive, to take part in a Twitter Q&A session on Monday 13 August 2012 ahead of A-level results day

The session will also be hosted on thestudentroom.co.uk. Topics to be covered range from confirmation, clearing, to student finance and financial support available to prospective students. Nicola will also be signposting applicants to advice and guidance from UCAS, the Independent Taskforce on Student Finance Information and other organisations.

The Q&As will take place on Monday 13 August at 4.30pm and will last about 90 minutes.

Students can submit their questions by messaging on Monday morning using @studentroom and @universitiesuk, or using the hash tag #resultsday, which The Student Room will be monitoring. Questions posted on Twitter will also appear on The Student Room website on a dedicated page.

Find out more:

• Study options at the OU
• Is the OU right for me? 

As the OU launches its first webinar to help people find out about student loans, Jackie Nunn from the OU’s Communications team, explains why…

Thursday 26 July 2012 saw the launch of the OU’s first live online seminar (or webinar) to students wanting to find out more about Tuition Fee Loans from Student Finance England (SFE).

Tuition Fee Loans are loans that can be taken out to cover the cost of study and last week saw the formal launch of the part-time student loan system from SFE. It comes after the Government announced last year that, as part of changes to the funding of higher education in England, it would extend student loans (Tuition Fee Loans) to the part-time sector.

Understandably, people have questions about this new system and so the OU hosted a webinar to give out clear information and answer any questions. This was an interactive session which covered key facts about Tuition Fee Loans and allowed participants to listen in and pose live questions to advisors using the interactive ‘questions’ box on screen.

The OU’s Jane Connolly, from Student Services, presented the details about Tuition Fee Loans from SFE, including eligibility, repayments, how to apply, other ways to pay, what the loan form looks like and where to find help and advice.

Many questions were submitted to the panel of OU advisors taking part, for example - What happens if my salary changes?

Student Services’ Phil Berry advised that because of the involvement of HMRC any changes in salary will change the amount you pay back and should take place automatically.

Other questions around eligibility included – I’m only 17, will I be eligible? and Student Services' Julie Kelly advised that there is no age limit when applying for a Tuition Fee Loan.

Another question was Can I apply for a loan for short or post graduate courses? And Julie advised that Tuition Fee Loans are only available for undergraduate qualifications and PGCE at the current time.

Most new part-time students can now apply to SFE for a Tuition Fee Loan to help them study. All details can be found by logging onto StudentHome or visiting our Ways to Pay website.

You can listen to the webinar here...

OU graduates are being invited to apply for a second degree scholarship at Cambridge.

The John Crook Scholarship programme at St John's College, Cambridge, is now entering its third year, and is awarded to a graduate of a British university, who has an exceptional academic record, who is the first in his/her family to attend university, and who may not have considered coming to Cambridge or had the opportunity of doing so.

Candidates will be British citizens and will normally be completing or have completed a full-time three/four year Honours Degree course, at an exceptionally high standard, at a university on the list of those eligible for the scheme (which includes the OU).

The John Crook Scholar will be admitted to St John’s College, Cambridge, to study for a second Bachelor’s Degree in the arts or humanities (excluding law or theological studies), or the Degree of Master of Advanced Studies in mathematics or science subjects. Other options may be available for an appropriately qualified candidate.

The award will be for up to two years (depending on the course), and is fully funded; with a maintenance grant at the rate of at least £10,000 per annum plus payment of approved College and University fees.

Application forms can be downloaded from the College website, or may be obtained from the John Crook Scholarship administrator, in the Tutorial Office at St John’s College, Cambridge, CB2 1TP.
 
Completed application forms must be received by 1 November 2012 for admission in October 2013.


 

A – Access to all! Anyone can study. This is the glory of the OU and in fact it’s the founding principle. You need no previous qualifications and get expert assistance to help you settle in; you don’t have to be academically minded to start studying, I sure as heck wasn’t.

B – Believe that you’re capable. When I first started out with the OU I mistakenly assumed I would manage fine and I got a rude wake-up call. It took me a heck of a long time to realise it would take more than the bare minimum to get by but now I know I’m capable. Anyone is – OU study is easy, you just have to want to do it for it to be that way.

C – There’s a vast community of people you’re automatically a part of as an OU student. Don’t be fooled into thinking that OU study is lonely – it doesn’t have to be. Get online and get chatting!

D – A degree was my aim when I first started out way back when and it seemed too far in the distance for me to achieve. Don’t dwell on the destination – enjoy the journey instead and it’ll make it a lot more enjoyable.

E – An EMA (or, the assessment formerly known as an ECA) is like a mini dissertation, although it’s never THAT much longer than a standard TMA. I always spend far too much energy fretting over an EMA.

F – Feedback from your tutors is absolutely worth paying attention to. I didn’t do this for years and have only recently realised how stupid I’ve been to ignore it – the tutors are tutors for a reason so they know what they’re talking about. Besides, different subjects require different essay styles so pay attention to what your tutor says.

G – Grades are different with the OU and good lord it took me ages to figure it out! Not only are the percentage brackets different but the gradings are named differently too – I got a Grade 3 pass which I’m assured is a 2:2, although to be honest I don’t care – I passed, that’s enough for me!

H – Home is your haven. Home is where you’ll (probably) do most of your studying. I hate studying at home, I get nothing done and end up with a cat (or two) sitting on my books staring at me in an attention seeking manner. Little buggers.

I – iCMAs are a more recent appearance on Open Uni modules. They didn’t have them when I started all those many moons ago – they’re computer based assessments usually consisting of multiple choice questions. Typically found on level 1 modules and typically easy.

J – Juggling is a skill a lot of OU students have. No, seriously – we’re experts at juggling work, study and home lives simultaneously and the longer you’ve been studying the easier it gets. Non-students think we’re superhuman for fitting it all in but in reality, a lot of people waste a lot of their time without realising it; OU students just waste it reading books and writing essays instead.

K – If knowledge is power then the OU is like the weight-lifter of the academic world. Without sounding trite the OU has given me more than just academic knowledge though. I’ve gained knowledge through putting into practice what I’ve learned and also knowledge about my own capabilities; a very powerful bit of knowledge indeed, although I could do with some knowledge about what to do with that knowledge.

L – Level 1, 2 & 3 enable you to start at the beginning and improve your reading and essay writing skills as you progress through your studies. I tried to jump straight to level 3 on a subject I wasn’t practiced in but it ended disastrously and tarred me as a drop-out.

M – Modules are the units of study formerly known as courses. Modules make up qualifications and range in ‘value’ from 10 credit points up to 60 credit points. In comparison, a full time student studies 120 credit points per year so an average part timer will do 60 per year. I’ve been known to do 90 and let me tell you – it ain’t easy!

N – Next module. My StudentHome page keeps asking what my next module is and I feel like I’m letting it down if I don’t have something lined up. This is part of the reason I’ve ended up carrying on with my studies – because I like seeing a healthy StudentHome page and feel guilty if it’s blank!

O – Decades after you’ve finished with your OU study your OUCU (OU computer username, pronounced ‘oo-koo’) will be permanently imprinted in your memory. EVERYTHING you do on the OU website starts with your OUCU.

P – Practice makes perfect so don’t be disheartened if you don’t get marks in the 80s straight away (or ever, for that matter!). I’ve been studying for almost 10 years and have only twice got a grade in the 80s. Not everyone is a naturally brilliant student – what matters is that you’re doing it.

Q – Qualification. In the old days you didn’t have to sign up to a qualification straight away but that’s the way the government is heading. Now, when you register on your first module it’s expected that you’ve already mentally committed yourself to six years of part time study and know what qualification you want.

R – Reading. Learn to love it because you do lots of it with the OU. Understandable though since you’re not getting taught in a classroom setting so you get lots of reading to do. It generally increases in volume with the different levels and Philosophy seems to involve WAY more than any other subject I’ve studied!

S – StudentHome is your lifeline. Everything you need to know about studying is accessed through your StudentHome page so it’s worth taking some time to familiarise yourself with it.

T – Has to be for TMAs. The backbone of Open University study and the thing that keeps you regular, no, not in that way but keeps your studying regular by being due roughly every month. The TMA quickly becomes the focal point in your diary and the date is constantly in back of your mind, gnawing away like a beaver on speed.

U – Undergraduate fees, although vastly increased thanks to this government are still a heck of a lot cheaper with the OU – roughly half the cost of a standard brick uni so I honestly don’t know why the OU is sometimes ignored as a straight-from-school option for many teenagers. Baffling.

V – Value for money has to be the OU’s biggest selling point. For half the cost of a campus-based university you’re able to access award winning, world renowned, quality assured modules which lead to a very highly thought of qualification.

W – Weekday, weekend, waxing, waning, it doesn’t matter where you are or what time it is, the OU is ready to teach whenever you are. No classes to go to, no timetable to stick to, just you whenever you’re ready, willing and able.

X – Xenophobia isn’t something the OU practices and in fact OU modules are available all across the world. However, you can learn all about how xenophobia and religious conflict in AA307 - Religion in history: conflict, conversion and coexistence.

Y – Yearning for learning. I wonder what the percentage difference is between those students who end up loving studying and those who still hate it following their OU studies. I can’t be the only one who has developed this yearning for never-ending learning?

Z – Zealot, that’s me. Since beginning my studies with the OU I’ve turned into a complete OU zealot. I love studying, with every scrap of thanks due to the OU for helping me see how enjoyable and rewarding it can be. With all my heart, thank you for changing the very fabric of me.
 

I lived alone when I first embarked on my studies. I was four years into my mortgage and earning a pittance but still I decided that stumping up for a degree was a worthy investment of what little disposable income I had. Cost was the single most important factor in deciding whether I could afford to do the degree or not but – and without sounding trite – the OU couldn’t have made it simpler for me.

My first two modules admittedly didn’t cost me anything. Because I was living alone and earning so little I qualified for financial support. This meant that the full cost of my modules was paid for me and this is still an option today in the guise of the Access to Success route. This is designed for people on low incomes and gives them the opportunity to study their first two modules for a mere £75 instead of up to £3,000 in total. This is definitely worth looking into if you’re brand new to study and fit the criteria (household income of £25k or less).

At the time I started, the cost of a 60 point module seemed a lot to fork out for when you’re lucky if you have £100 a month disposable income so I started researching the payment options available. That’s when I stumbled across OUSBA – the Open University Student Budget Account. OUSBA turned out to be the OU’s gift to me from the gods. It works like a ‘sort of’ loan in that the cost of your fees are spread out over the duration of your module. There’s a small amount of interest but it’s minimal compared to a bank loan.

'It’s the best way to pay if you don’t want to have to take out a loan but can’t afford to pay upfront'

Of course the cost of a module is increasing in the new fees regime but the OUSBA account is still a tremendous provision from the OU and I believe it’s the best way to pay if you don’t want to have to take out a loan but can’t afford to pay upfront. I can say in all honesty that if it weren’t for my OUSBA account I probably wouldn’t have been able to afford my studies.

Of course there are other options for paying – either paying upfront or taking out one of the government tuition fee loans or getting sponsored by your employer. Unfortunately the latter wasn’t ever an option for me as my degree was completely unrelated to my job but if it had been then I would definitely have asked because a lot of the time employers can get grants from training companies for your fees anyway. There’s never any harm in asking. Shy bairns get nowt, as my mother always says.

'It somewhat irritates me when I hear people saying that studying is too expensive'

I think the increase in undergraduate fees is spooking a lot of people and making them assume they’ll not be able to afford to study. This is such a misnomer and it somewhat irritates me when I hear people saying that studying is too expensive. It irritates me even more when I hear grumblings about the tuition fee loans – the repayment is a minimal percentage of anything you earn over £21k so if you don’t earn over £21k you don’t pay anything back and if you earn £30k you only pay back £67 a month. That sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me in exchange for a qualification which will no doubt increase in worth as fewer people decide to do them because of the ‘cost implication’ *rolls eyes*.

OUSBA in particular however, is my lifeline. I’m not so keen on the idea of taking out a long term loan when if I do a bit of penny pinching I can comfortably afford the instalments on an OUSBA account so if there’s a way you can afford to pay by instalments then I’d strongly urge the use of this incredible provision by the OU.

'No excuse could justify me NOT getting the education I craved and needed'

It doesn’t really matter what payment method people decide upon to pay for their education though, the important point is that there are plenty of ways to do so and many of them are incredibly affordable. There’s a method for every scenario – low income (Access to Success), no income (tuition fee loan), working student (OUSBA) or career improver (employer sponsorship). Really, there’s not a lot left in the excuse bucket if you’re trying to talk yourself out of studying. I realised that before I even started studying and decided that no excuse could justify me NOT getting the education I craved and needed. I have to say, that was definitely one of the more sensible decisions I’ve ever made in my lifetime.

For those of you thinking about studying with the OU, here’s a handy little video which explains the different ways to pay for OU study (in England only), and you can find more information here.

If you’re a current student, you’ll find more info about planning your studies here.