[SuperCat007]

Has anybody ever experienced this?

I have decided to study at UEA and have a place there in September, only for the OU to jeopardise this at the last moment by saying that my results will be released 14th September and there is no way they can be released earlier... Not only that but if I wait until the results are released and UEA decide I can't have the place then it is too late to apply for financial support to keep studying with the OU. However someone on S104 last year was doing the same thing and her results were released early to her uni.

I was flat out lied to by the financial support office last year when the job centre refused to send proof of my earnings (after they lost my P45) so I have missed a year of studying due to that and I am not willing to miss another.

The Open University has been a complete disappointment and since their fee increases they have only got worse. I would strongly urge anyone wanting to do their qualifications as a stepping stone onto more to re-consider going back to do A-levels or a college taught diploma.

If anyone has any ideas or help it would be greatly appreciated. I have contacted UEA and I am awaiting their response, but I'm terrified. UEA told me they usually decline applicants whose offers aren't met by 1st September! Oh and I couldn't study my course earlier in the year because all my modules have had to be 10 credit modules (another long and angry story about the OU cancelling all the level 2 courses this year) so I had to pay for each one and I couldn't afford to register for 2 courses in February!

Sorry for the rant, I'm just so cross and I'll be writing a formal letter of complaint to the OU about this once my last course is finished.

[Juno]

I've never heard of the OU to release results early, even to unis. They also say clearly on their website when results are expected, and these are visible even before you sign up. And it's UCAS policies which say you need to meet your offer by August 31st, and again this is clearly stated on the UCAS site before you apply.

They offer OUSBA loans, so there's no such thing as "couldn't afford to register for 2 courses" - you may not have wanted to take out a loan but that's your issue, and nothing to do with the OU being at fault.

From your post, the OU doesn't seem to be at fault at all. You just seem to want to blame everyone else for your own inadequacies in research.

[SuperCat007]

Thank you for your reply. The OU have emailed UEA so I will know the outcome on Monday (I hope). I have just found the section on Student Home which tells me when my course finishes. In my 2 years studying with the OU I have never seen that and have even phoned asking why there isn't a section telling you when the results will be released and I have just been told 'Oh, I don't know'.

I could not apply for any financial support, whenever I tried the online application would not work and whenever I phoned (at least 3 times I can remember clearly) I was always told there is no financial support for 10-credit modules. So rightly or wrongly I could not afford the two courses at February.

I feel my only research inadequacy was not finding the result screen sooner. I was aware of UCAS's deadline, but was unsure when the OU's results would be published. I was even told by one 'advisor' to wait until I had submitted my final course and ask then, but she wasn't sure. I stand by what I said, the OU have in general been unhelpful and uncaring and have set up my particular degree so that I will not qualify for transitional fees. I am extremely disappointed but I hope that the conventional universities may be a little more human and understanding of the situation.

I am not some 'kid' who hasn't done the research. I have had an extremely difficult 6 years and have been too ill to finish any qualifications to attain a university place, and to have it jeopardised at the last hurdle by something like this is devastating.

[Hippodamos]

Some universities recognise that the OU modules end at inconvenient times for the purposes of using them to move to a different university. As a result, they will accept a "tutor's report" in place of your actual results. I guess this would be easy to do if the offer is conditional on pass/fail rather than any specific grade.

[Bleak Lemming]

(Original post by Hippodamos)
Some universities recognise that the OU modules end at inconvenient times for the purposes of using them to move to a different university. As a result, they will accept a "tutor's report" in place of your actual results. I guess this would be easy to do if the offer is conditional on pass/fail rather than any specific grade.

Secondary to this I've also heard of people using their TMA grades in place of a final grade in this situation.

[SuperCat007]

Thanks for your help. UEA have asked for an 'academic reference' from the OU which was posted on Friday. I also sent them each of my TMA grades for S104, most of them were in the 80's and 90's so hopefully that'll help. It's just a waiting game now. I just can't believe I didn't check it sooner, and I'm really cross if the OU does actually do funding for 10-credit modules that they always told me otherwise. It could have saved some serious hardship over the last 6 months!

Thank you for all of your replies.