Open University funding Laptop?

paulcornwall

My PC is getting beyond a joke and finding it really frustrating to work on, anyhow i noticed the learning fund (http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/Access-to-Learning-Fund-1107.pdf) and was wondering what the best way to approach this? Now i currently receive income support so i dont think my entitlement is a problem, but i was wondering should i buy the pc first and send the receipt on, if so how long is the turn around? I was going to use either a cc or my parents, what do you reckon, any suggestion for a 500 quid laptop?

HomeSpun

I assume you are currently on an OU course and receiving funding for it (course fees paid etc). If you are getting funding for your course, you will receive a £255 course grant in addition to the fees being paid. You should also receive, round about the time the course starts, maybe slightly before, a form to sign saying that you do not have a suitable PC and that you require a grant to purchase a pc. If you have already started your course and not received a form, give them a call, they're really helpful! They then should grant you a further £245 grant, as they count the original £255 grant paid towards the £500.

After receiving both grants, which should be about a month after your course starts, you then buy the PC and forward the receipt for it to them.

I'm pretty sure it should be possible to do it the other way around. I assume that you would need to fill out the form on their website (I will link to it later as I cannot get onto their website at the moment) and send it in with your receipt(s). This form also includes space to list your internet connection costs as they will also fund these for a year if you are eligible .They will always count the £255 course grant towards your PC grant, so you need to bear that in mind.

There is a link to the form in this thread here

I hope that makes sense as I haven't had nearly enough coffee yet this morning and I'm struggling with coherent sentences!

ETA - I've slapped myself silly for linking to the form as you already have :doh:

kibs

Check out empiredirect. If you have the NUS extra card, you get a discout. I got a decent lappy from there for £300 delivered.

DCFC79

loaner wrote: »

reinstall windows.

do this first, dont go and buy a new pc if it was just a reinstall that would be required

Kevicho

DCFC79 wrote: »

do this first, dont go and buy a new pc if it was just a reinstall that would be required

The first thing you should do is back everything up

paulcornwall

thanks guys i'll try that first

paulcornwall

Whats the preferrred backup method these days?

dmg24

loaner,

Why do you only have 29 posts when you have made at least 396?

dmg24

loaner wrote: »

They expired

Sorry, that's rubbish. Seems very silly to delete them all, unless you have reason to?