Student Finance
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Our degree programmes are eligible for Student Finance England, Wales and Northern Ireland. You’ll usually only get student finance if you’re doing your first higher education qualification – even if your previous course was self-funded. You may still be eligible for limited funding in certain circumstances and for some courses, so please check your eligibility directly with Student Finance in these cases.
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This will depend on if you are funding through Student England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Student Finance England will only award a Maintenance Loan if you cannot attend your course in person because of a disability. You will be asked to evidence this within your maintenance loan application.
Student Finance Wales and Northern Ireland awards a mixture of loans and grants based on your household income and course intensity. OCA confirms intensity on a unit by unit basis, meaning students are confirmed at 33% when you begin a unit of study. This is only increased when you complete a unit and enrol to your next unit within the same funding year.
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If you are an international (non-UK) student, it’s unlikely you will be able to get a student loan from the UK Government. We recommend checking your eligibility directly with the relevant Student Finance organisation.
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No. OCA can only accept part-time student loans, as we only offer part-time study. If you have made a full-time application, you will need to cancel this application and make a part-time application instead.
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If you are a new student, you can apply for funding when you receive your provisional offer from OCA. Therefore we recommend selecting an intake date at least two months in the future, to allow Student Finance to review your application in time for the chosen intake.
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Your Student Finance intake month determines how long your funding is in place for. Please refer to your OCA Learn profile and Student Handbook further guidance for your Student Finance intake month and when you should apply for funding.
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No. OCA does not use UCAS, therefore there is no code to provide.
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Ensure you are making a part-time application and that you have selected The Open University as the university, as only under these selections will OCA courses appear. When searching for a course, start by typing OCA and then a drop down menu of courses will appear, such as OCA BA Hons Creative Arts. Do not type the whole course name into the course name box, as Student Finance will not recognise the manual input.
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As you are seeking funding through Student Finance, we recommend that you apply for the maximum funding permitted for part-time courses under The Open University, which is different to the maximum cost of the OCA courses. OCA will only request payment from Student Finance for the cost of the units you actually enrol in.
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If your funding application isn’t approved by your preferred intake, we’ll keep your enrolment pending until you receive your approval and then enrol you on the next available intake so long as there is an intake available within the same academic year (the last intake of an academic year is July).
We cannot enrol you to BA Hons course unless your tuition fee loan funding is in place if this is how you have indicated you wish to fund the course. Our Finance team checks the status of Student Finance loan applications daily, but you will likely hear of your outcome a few days before anyone else.
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OCA only claims for the cost of your degree programme on a unit by unit basis, and so Student Finance notify you of reduced claims, however you will still have the maximum amount that you applied for available.
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No. As OCA’s Foundation courses are not accredited they are not eligible for government funding. UK based students may be interested in the Learner Support Scheme.
SAAS
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Always check your eligibility for Part-time Fee Grant directly with SAAS. However usually, to receive funding, you need to:
- study an eligible course
- meet residence criteria
- earn less than £25,000 per year in gross income (before tax and National Insurance) in the tax year ending 5 April 2023, including bonuses and overtime
- have left full-time compulsory education, such as high school
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SAAS will only consider one application for the Part-Time Fee Grant from you per academic year. Therefore, it’s crucial to plan your studies for the entire academic year in advance. Initially, you will receive an award for one unit. If you choose to enrol in a second unit within the same academic year, you must inform us before the applicable SAAS deadlines (link) and OCA intake deadlines (link).
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The Part-time Fee Grant only awards partial funding for eligible OCA courses. You will need to pay the difference between the amount awarded by SAAS per unit and the total cost of a unit, and so will need to pay the deposit amount at a minimum in order to begin the programme of study. It is not possible to fully fund an undergraduate course through SASS’ Part-time Fee Grant.
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You need to be aware of the SAAS deadlines throughout the year, and ensure you complete registration (submit enrolment form and make payment) for a unit of study before these deadlines.
- To begin a unit of study between 1 August and 31 December, you need to complete registration for a unit before 1 December.
- To begin a unit of study between 1 January and 31 March, you have to complete registration for a unit before 1 March.
- To begin a unit of study between 1 June and 31 April , you have to complete registration for a unit before 1 June.
- To begin a unit of study in June , you have to complete registration for a unit before 1 July.
OCA enrolment deadlines and progression still apply.
Bursaries
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To be eligible for a Learner Support Scheme bursary, students must;
- be a resident in the UK
- be able to apply once per unit/course
- have a household income under the threshold set
- If applying for towards degree study, must not be eligible for Student Finance
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No. There is currently no funding available for students experiencing financial hardship.
The Learner Support Scheme offers a Student Support bursary which awards up to £100 towards the cost of course resources and equipment. Please review eligibility criteria and how to apply here.
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At present, there is no designated funding available for international students.
Self-funding
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You can make payment at the point of submitting your enrolment order or you can request to pay via bank transfer, details of which are provided with your provisional offer.
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You must pay the deposit before we can confirm your enrolment acceptance.
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The first instalment is due one month after your Induction start date. A future pay link will be sent via Worldpay to set up the instalments once the course has started. Alternatively, students can opt to make the instalment payments by standing order.
Discounts
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As an OCA student you can gain access to discounts with retailers and other services across the country. All you need is your OCA email address. For new students, this is provided at the start of your Induction. Check out some available discounts here.
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No. Some students may be interested in applying for a Learner Support Scheme bursary. Check your eligibility here.
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No. Usually students must be registered on a course that requires them to study at least 16 hours per week. As OCA only requires a minimum of 10 study hours per week, this does not meet the criteria. This is still the case should students chose to study more than 10 hours a week, because it is not a mandatory requirement of the course.
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If you are based in the UK, you will receive a student card in the post after your two week Induction period has ended. If you are an international student you can still request a student card.
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As students sign up to study on a unit by unit basis, your student card is valid for the maximum registration period of your unit of study, e.g. 12 months for a 40 credit unit and 18 months for a 60 credit.