Council Tax discount when studying 120 OU credits?

Hi all,

Just had a thought whilst I'm at work..

Next year between Feb until July I will have two 60 credit modules overlapping (+ 2 residentials at one point) which will mean that I shall be studying 120-150 credits for 6 months. I'll not be working for 4 months of that. Does anybody know if it is possible to claim council tax exemption as an OU student studying full time?

Help appreciated,

Thanks

Reply 1

Llamageddon

18

I don't know the answer but I would advise also asking your local council. A lot of the time there is policy and council interpretation of policy.

I'm curious to find the answer to this too. There are a few PG courses on OU that look very interesting.

Reply 2

Moggs

10

Original post by Bleak Lemming

Hi all,

Just had a thought whilst I'm at work..

Next year between Feb until July I will have two 60 credit modules overlapping (+ 2 residentials at one point) which will mean that I shall be studying 120-150 credits for 6 months. I'll not be working for 4 months of that. Does anybody know if it is possible to claim council tax exemption as an OU student studying full time?

Help appreciated,

Thanks

The government definition of full time study is that your experience needs to consist of lots of campus based work. The OU is therefore only classed as part time whether you do 30 credits a year or 120+. Sorry matey :frown:

I'd check what you can get if you're taking 4 months out of work, though it'll be unrelated to your studies.

Reply 3

minnieuk

8

Actually the position on this has changed since the new fee structures were announced. It is up to individual councils to decide if they want to give the discount to OU students who are studying the full-time equivalent. My local council have changed and now accept OU students and if you do a search online you'll find most councils seem to be taking this view.

Also OU students can now apply for student finance just like any other university. With the OU attracting more full-time students who don't want to pay the fees of brick universities this will make the OU an even more attractive option for some.

Reply 4

Nitebot

15

Original post by minnieuk

Actually the position on this has changed since the new fee structures were announced. It is up to individual councils to decide if they want to give the discount to OU students who are studying the full-time equivalent. My local council have changed and now accept OU students and if you do a search online you'll find most councils seem to be taking this view.

Also OU students can now apply for student finance just like any other university. With the OU attracting more full-time students who don't want to pay the fees of brick universities this will make the OU an even more attractive option for some.

That's very interesting Minnie. Makes sense though.

Reply 5

Get This

This Open University Law student , studied 2 modules = 120 credits in each year (of 2 years) and took her council (Kingston Upon Thames) to Tribunal -- and won. Suggest you cite this case law to your local council if same applies. Decision is dated March 2019.

http://info.valuation-tribunals.gov.uk/Decision_Documents/documents/CT_England/5630M237894281C.pdf

Reply 6

Mark_.

7