OU Students Past, Present and Future

Nic0512

Hi everyone, i am a possible Future OU student, i am looking at study health and social care K101. But i am unsure on the financial side of things. Do i have to pay the fees then claim financial support? Im a new mum to a 4 week old and currently the only income i get is Maturnity allowance so not alot.
How do i go about starting a course and getting financial help. i checked and according to their website i am eligable i just dont know how to go about getting started.

thanks

papoosue

Hi there [

We don't earn much as a family - just one wage, and I get my course paid for. If I was you, I would phone up your regional office - you will be able to find their number on the website and ask for advice. In my experience they are really helpful and will be able to tell you what you need to know. (oh, meant to say - no actual money changes hands, they just pay the whole thing for you). If you are in England you might be able to get a grant for a computer as well if you needed one. There is also some sort of grant to help with the cost of books etc, but I'm not sure how that works - the OU will advise with that.

What I do is register online for the course I want and then they send me a form to fill in - I usually have to send a photocopy of my tax credits award with it and it's not a complicated form or anything, quite simple to do. However, if it's your first time and you are unsure then you can quite easily do it over the phone with the OU - really, they are so helpful and used to helping people do all this stuff. Give them a ring and see how you get on!

I hope that makes sense and is maybe some help to you.

QUOTE=Nic0512;28377603]Hi everyone, i am a possible Future OU student, i am looking at study health and social care K101. But i am unsure on the financial side of things. Do i have to pay the fees then claim financial support? Im a new mum to a 4 week old and currently the only income i get is Maturnity allowance so not alot.
How do i go about starting a course and getting financial help. i checked and according to their website i am eligable i just dont know how to go about getting started.

thanks[/QUOTE]

scubaangel

jsp_1983 wrote: »

Just wondering... Has anybody here managed to use Clubcard vouchers to pay for the entirety of a degree year (or even a degree itself?)?

I'm looking in to the OU to top up and finish off a foundation degree - using Clubcard vouchers would seem to be the cheapest way possible for me to get a degree in the UK so far!

I've paid for about £1k of courses with OU vouchers so far, not all counting towards my final degree though, and am saving the vouchers now for my next years courses as I paid for this years in cash.

Rebekah24

Nic0512 wrote: »

Hi everyone, i am a possible Future OU student, i am looking at study health and social care K101. But i am unsure on the financial side of things. Do i have to pay the fees then claim financial support? Im a new mum to a 4 week old and currently the only income i get is Maturnity allowance so not alot.
How do i go about starting a course and getting financial help. i checked and according to their website i am eligable i just dont know how to go about getting started.

thanks

Agreed, register online and then apply for financial support

If you want to chat to someone first give your local office a ring, they are usually very helpfull

mum2one

Nic0512 wrote: »

Hi everyone, i am a possible Future OU student, i am looking at study health and social care K101. But i am unsure on the financial side of things. Do i have to pay the fees then claim financial support? Im a new mum to a 4 week old and currently the only income i get is Maturnity allowance so not alot.
How do i go about starting a course and getting financial help. i checked and according to their website i am eligable i just dont know how to go about getting started.

thanks

Would def ring up, they can do the forms and you know all the right wording etc is on, there really helpful, you then just supply proof.

Can't recommend OU enough, I'm on my 5th course, and got 2 more starting in May and already planning 2010/2011 study year! xx

Raksha

Hi again. I'm looking at picking up my OU studies after a 10 year break. Are there any OU business studies students out there? I'm not looking at doing a specific degree at the moment, but I would like to start with B190 Introduction to Bookeeping and Accounting. Then moving on to Management, marketing and law 10 point courses.

Zziggi

MargB wrote: »

Ok , here me ....
Past - 38 OU courses
Current - S808
Future - MSc in Earth Sciences

Gosh! and I thought I was an OU addict with 20 courses in 10 years......

It REALLY is addictive. When people ask me if I have a hobby I say I have my OU studies but they never believe me as they see higher education as more than a hobby. I love learning new things and the people I meet are great (although you always get one to$$er in each group). I've already got the next few years planned. I can't imagine a year not studying as I have got married, moved house and had all my kids while an OU student. My kids used to play at "e-mailing my tutor" and my DDs nursery teacher told me once she was scribbling and she said she was "writing a TMA for a teacher at big school" which prompted the nursery teacher to ask what I was studying. I can't recommend the OU highly enough! The only downside is the cost as I don't qualify for any help now (ELQ/postgrad etc etc).

If you're thinking of OU study, then I say just do it! You won't look back.

Rebekah24

Inspiring to see so many people so into the courses

hehe...I met some funny people on my last one...the tutorials were silent...and nobody said even a hello! ....needless to say I didnt go back to any tutorials:eek:

Cracking on with my tma's ... should be halfway by the time the course starts

Got some index cards for doing revision notes, trying to do them as I go along:o

lizzie_dripping

Have registered for AA100 to start in February, just finished Y160 which is a 10 point Openings course and it really gave me the bug!

Aiming for a Literature degree one day.

GlasweJen

Got my first eTMA result back and i'm quite confused/disappointed.

Tutor wrote that I covered the topic well but that my essay was quite slow to get started and I sent it in in the wrong format (even though i emailed her and asked to confirm the format was right and she said it was!) and gave it 50%.

I'm not too fussed because it's a pass and tbh the course is boring me already, tutor doesn't seem to give a monkeys, is slow to respond to emails (if she does, several people on the forum havent heard a dicky bird from her), the course CD came without instructions and the literature is dated. Start my new course later this month which already i've had loads of support from, the materials arrived and the stuff is modern and very relevant so hopefully my first module isn't a sign of things to come.