OU Financial support help please :)

rapunzelz86

Hi i started my course on 1st may, firstly i was wondering,the ou say the course grant is £1075, and other places say up to. Do you automatically get £1075 or do they assess you for a certain amount (i did get the full fee grant £955ish) ?
Also how soon did you recieve it? Iknow they say up to 6 weeks for first time students but has anyone had it earlier than this?
Last question, sorry, i didnt send in the required info to apply for PLA, will they accept applications throughout the year if i need it or do you miss out if you dont apply at the start?
Thanks in advance, have googled and phoned them but cant get the answers i need!

aurorahelios

I'm rather puzzled as to what you mean by grant, the nature of OU courses means they are meant to fit around your existing life and they have very few additional costs associated with them so a grant isn't usually allocated

Financial support is usually just the course fees paid. Disabled students are able to apply for DSA where an assessor visits your house to determine what equipment could be provided to make studying easier.

Perhaps you could clarify what you are referring to.

rapunzelz86

No, there is a grant.
Fee grant of full award £955 (90 points or more per year) partial award i think £635 (30-60 points per year)
Plus "course grant" of £1075 to go towards costs of studying ie buying computer (if in wales as cant get pc grant in wales) books,travel etc.

GEEGEE8

It says in my booklet:

Course grant:
A maximum of £265 will be available as a course grant. Only those students on certain benefits or have a household income below £25,420 will be entitled.

You should allow up to three weeks afer your course starts before you receive you course grant.

rapunzelz86

???? So confused now! It says in my book (the actual application for financial support,they sent me 2) one the very 1st page, 1st paragraph,
" Four kinds of financial support are available to eligible part time students;
Fee grant and course grant - support towards your course fees of up to £635 if you are studying 30 to 60 credit points worth of courses or £955 if you are studying 90 credit points or more(see variable study intensity below) and a grant of up to £1075 towards study costs"
Then goes on to say about pla dsa etc.

How does the course grant work?
For each year of study,a maximum of £1075 will be available as a course grant. Only those students on certain benefits or those with a household income of less than £26,095 (plus allowances where applicable) will be entitled to this full amount......"
It seems the course grant is still £1075 even if you are only eligible for a partial fee award .

I qualified for the above and had a letter to say so.I dont understand why everyone else only knows of just over 200. Either im being lied to by th OU or everyone else is seriously missing out!

EDIT; I also have the application form for 2010/2011 financial support, where the amounts have risen slightly,fee grants £650/£975 course grant £1095

rapunzelz86

aah, i see https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1973475
3rd from the bottom. Seems a very large gap though! Oh well at least us welsh dont get the rough end of the deal for everything!
Im shocked tbh that its such a big drop, from £1075 to £260. I know you get pc grant and we dont but that still only amounts to around £500 doesnt it?

Okay so back to the original question, anybody recieved there course grant before the 6 weeks?