MSE News: Open University pulls plug on Tesco-funded degrees

annik_2

It isn't just the OU that have changed the rules, I think that the rules have been changed by Tescos on all their deals!!

We went on holiday with Cosmos last year and paid for the full holiday with Tesco vouchers, this year you are only allowed to use £100.00 of rewards per person, then you have to pay full brouchure price. We have just priced a holiday up and if we use £200.00 worth of vouchers which gives £800.00 towards the holiday we will still have to pay another £800.00 for the holiday, making the holiday £1600.00 in total; the same holiday for the same dates and hotel can be bought via Thomas Cooks for £1,100, so for an extra £300.00 pounds cash I can have the holiday and keep the vouchers. TESCOS need to be made to realise that their customers are not stupid; I for one am now taking my business elsewhere as they are not giving us anything with the 'double clubcard' points on all shoping.

It is about time that we all started voting with our feet into another supermarket!!

Pound

Are people aware that the Open University offers financial support for people with a household income of less than £30,000? I study part time with the OU, I work almost full time and qualify to have all my course fees paid for me plus some extra to cover expenses.

Stryder

Clubcard vouchers are non-transferable :eek:
No one really sells them and transgresses Tesco-lands laws do they?

Sounds bad to me!!!!

To be honest - this is one option but you get at most, double rather than *4, and then have extortionate Paypal and ebay fees (10%). Its a solution but one that suits ebay more than either the seller or tesco, or the OU.

Still I am sure some will resort to this.

Pound: i am retraining as my 1st degree will not find me a job in this climate - so I do not get funding

Stryder

annik wrote: »

It isn't just the OU that have changed the rules, I think that the rules have been changed by Tescos on all their deals!!

We went on holiday with Cosmos last year and paid for the full holiday with Tesco vouchers, this year you are only allowed to use £100.00 of rewards per person, then you have to pay full brouchure price. We have just priced a holiday up and if we use £200.00 worth of vouchers which gives £800.00 towards the holiday we will still have to pay another £800.00 for the holiday, making the holiday £1600.00 in total; the same holiday for the same dates and hotel can be bought via Thomas Cooks for £1,100, so for an extra £300.00 pounds cash I can have the holiday and keep the vouchers. TESCOS need to be made to realise that their customers are not stupid; I for one am now taking my business elsewhere as they are not giving us anything with the 'double clubcard' points on all shoping.

It is about time that we all started voting with our feet into another supermarket!!

To be honest, after OU vouchers not sure what else I would use. RAC deal is not so great when you take into account buying through Quidco. I guess restaurant meals are a good option - but I doubt that would really keep me with TESCO insurance/credit card/EON etc when I can get a better deal with quidco.

Nectar is looking better these days. To be honest - I am an avid Tesco-er for my education. Without that incentive I prefer ASDA for a cheap shop and Sainsbury's if I want ethically sourced fish/chicken/etc.

Still - if the restaurant deals are quite good I may keep with them but if they go the same way, I will be returning my clubcard back to sender

spora

Stryder wrote: »

Clubcard vouchers are non-transferable :eek:
No one really sells them and transgresses Tesco-lands laws do they?

Sounds bad to me!!!!

To be honest - this is one option but you get at most, double rather than *4, and then have extortionate Paypal and ebay fees (10%). Its a solution but one that suits ebay more than either the seller or tesco, or the OU.

Still I am sure some will resort to this.

Pound: i am retraining as my 1st degree will not find me a job in this climate - so I do not get funding

You probably are aware of this but you may still be able to get some financial support:
http://css2.open.ac.uk/FafCalculator/degree.aspx

Stryder

The wrote: »

the ebay exchange rate is 2.5/1

I am just shocked :eek:

Would never do such a thing! Maybe they should set an exchange (like the stock exchange) with vouchers being bid up and down. Shame these things are not transferable though. Dont see why they are not.

Although if I can collect 12000 aluminium cans for somewhere I will be fine and get the points that way at the recycling station. I wonder if freecycle would get me them! :T

maggiecon

I cant believe how upset people are about this. If you put into context a single person earning less than £16,000 a year is still entitled to nearly all their course fees paid for them and course costs on top of this! AND you can still get financial help with earning up to £30k a year. more if you have dependants.

This should not put studying beyond anyones means and to say that it does is ridiculous.

I am a single mum who returned to full time study at a 'conventional university' with two kids and two part time jobs and I have £15k of student loan debt left to show for it.

A degree with the OU costs approximately £630 per 60 point module times 6 modules. just under £4k. not bad by normal university standards!


By boyfriend is a joiner earning £250 per week and he qualified to have all his modules paid for him this year!

Even if you do not qualify to have all your study paid for, you can still spread the costs using an OUSBA account! making the payments more manageable.

So I think people are overreacting a bit by saying they wont be able to complete their study, what they really mean is they wont be able to get their degree for free!!

Welcome to the real world.

Stryder

Maggie - do you think i is right that you should be in £15k debt just to get an education? I think its awful, and the government deserves a slap.

Dont get these tuition fees - and from a labour government, mind you those politicians need there duck ponds dont they!

whacks

How will you be in debt by £15k by getting an education through the OU. I have just had a play with their degree plan and made 3 seperate(science related ones, with honours, so 360 points) and they all came to under £5,000 including 3 week of science school. You could do 3 degrees and still not be in debt by £15k.

If you go to brick and mortar university to study(which I am this september, Aberdeen to study Marine Biology \o/) you will not be in debt by £15k...more like £20k+ after taking into consideration: maintainace loans, tutition loans, overdrafts and credit cards. My fees and maintance loan alone total roughly £20k for the four years. Yet I wil gladly pay them for both the education and the experience.

If I was working in a job I liked or had family commitments the OU would be a highly attractive alternative. The level of finacial support they offer for a cheap alternative to traditional University is fantastic too as you do not have to pay back what they give you as it is a grant rather then a loan. I am doing the introduction to science as a bit of pre study for my degree at Aberdeen and I can not recomend OU enough

If you earn more then the cut off then I am sure you could squeeze in £630 a year or less and take longer to do the course. When I was earning less then £15k I could have managed to save 630 should I have wanted too. It would just be a case of spending £10-£15 on a phone contract rather then £25-£30, and same with the internet bill or going out on a friday night and drinking 4 pints rather then 8. If price of a pint is £2.30 then that is a saving off £478 over a year there alone

Long story short the OU is a great way of gaining a degree for fun, to challenge you mentally or for a career change. The end of the Tesco club card points while annoying should not be a massive factor in deciding you no longer want a degree/education

Dinah93

Can I ask why people think you'd be able to pay for a Feb 2011 start in May? That would be 10 months away, October 2010 starts are currently 9 months away and their prices aren't up yet.