Open University advice

Dinah93

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone has experience of the Open University could help us out a little. My partner has just begun a course, and we were wondering if we could get the 25% off council tax like you can if you are studying at a physical university, or if there is any other financial assistance. We earn around £25k pa, however this is almost entirely made up of my wages, of which over £400 a month presently goes towards paying off my student loan, and the loan i had to take out to cover fees and equipment for my masters. He's taking 60 credits at present, however he may do some more in September when this module completes. As his income is only £480 per month, any advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated, as we're already budgeted up the ying yang, can't squeeze another penny from what we have, but he supported me through my degree, so I want to do the very best I can for him. Any little bit of advice for financial relief while he is studying and has had to cut down to 32 hours per week at work would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you, D x

CIS

You cant get any discount for your Council Tax - unfortunately distance learning is not an allowable option for a student disregard, I work in Council Tax and this was one of the first things I checked for myself

Zziggi

Dinah93 wrote: »

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone has experience of the Open University could help us out a little. My partner has just begun a course, and we were wondering if we could get the 25% off council tax like you can if you are studying at a physical university,

Nope, definitely not. If you want the 25% off then you have to be at a physical university.

Only plus point i can think of is that you can get a student card from the OU which may get you some discounts in some shops/theatres/museaums/leisure facilities etc etc despite being in employment.


Sorry that it's bad news

Oldernotwiser

Could he not work full time whilst doing the OU? Many people manage to do this. Also, he works 32 hours per week and earns £480 per month; surely this is below minimum wage?
You wouldn't get the 25% discount as a part time student at a "bricks and mortar" university either but perhaps he'd be better off doing his degree full time with the financial support available for that. At present you seem to have the worst of both worlds.

wilf55

speak to someone at the university financial advisor springs to mind as the first port of call if you are struggling with university related expenses getting to the group meetings or whatever it is ou call them stationary perhaps other materials the university have grants available to help you with these sorts of things if you dont ask you dont get!!

skylight

Check the OU website - ready reckoner. It tells you that on £25pa (for the total income for you both) it tells you that he could get a partial award for payments towards the fees. (I have based my guestimate on you not having any kids).

http://www3.open.ac.uk/coursefinance/

Have you checked www.entitledto.co.uk just in case you are entitled to any rent/council tax help?? (although TBH I doubt it on your income)

Other than getting the OU card and student card for discounts then there is not enything else you will get help with.

Can he not work more hours??

Dinah93

He's looking for a new job now on full time hours. Things have gotten worse before (hopefully) they get better, as he left his previous job due to being asked to knowingly break the data protection act, and also being shot at with a bb gun while doing someone else's job for the day. I know that he's responsible if any of the people whose data he was asked to use took it to court, and for the sake of a couple of hundred quid a month that doesn't seem to be at a legal level (his hourly rate appears as £**.** on his payslip!) it really isn't worth it. Fingers crossed something comes up soon!

87ka87

hi dinah. i'm an OU student, I got a letter through the door the other day. They're now offering another grant to get a PC and to pay for books. Not just the £250 one any more. Its worth a go.

Also if you going for financial support you have to apply for it i think 6 months after you started the course and you need to apply before september if you started before september.

scorpio_princess

87ka87 wrote: »

hi dinah. i'm an OU student, I got a letter through the door the other day. They're now offering another grant to get a PC and to pay for books. Not just the £250 one any more. Its worth a go.

Also if you going for financial support you have to apply for it i think 6 months after you started the course and you need to apply before september if you started before september.

Just to clarify, the £250 course materials grant and the computer funding is only for students with a household income of less than £15,000 pa.

When you sign up for an OU course, you are asked if you would like to apply for financial aid - the forms are sent along with the course registration documents. Everything you need to know about eligibility is on the form (it's probably on the website too) - there's no need to apply six months in advance, unless you're signing up for a course six months before the start date! They sometimes let people sign up just 2 weeks before a start date.

87ka87

scorpio_princess wrote: »

Just to clarify, the £250 course materials there's no need to apply six months in advance, unless you're signing up for a course six months before the start date!

Actually, thats not what i meant, i meant you've got to apply before a certain amount of time has passed after the course has started.