OCA fees from September 2012

80 thoughts on “OCA fees from September 2012”

• As Eileen says, regrettable but I feel inevitable, given the current educational climate. Even so, the cost of the full degree is still just a shade over half what a degree would cost with the OU (360 units will cost £15000 from September ’12). So the OCA is still fantastic value, especially when you add in some of the events that are organised as well.
  What isn’t mentioned here are 2 things:
  Firstly, and perhaps of interest to other students rather than myself (I’m fully paid up…) – is it still possible to pay for the courses now and start them at a future date, when you’re ready?
  Secondly, and perhaps of more interest to me (mulling over the possibility, should I get the final grade I want), is there any knock on to the MA prices?
  Anyway, whilst the price hikes might not be welcome, they’re understandable and I’d like to commend Gareth and the team for keeping things realistic, and for listening to OCASA during the process.

  • I was also wondering about the MA…
    For me personally, I’m just so relieved to be where I am at this moment in my studies, and hope I can get the money together to make use of the grace period to enroll on my level 3 courses.
    It is sad to see that the overseas student rates will have to go up by so much, but, it is understandable. Anywhere a person will go as international student, it would be more expensive.
    I can’t see myself NOT continuing with my studies, possibly even after finishing level 3, even if it’s just for some of the other level 1 / 2 modules, it will just take longer to save up. There is no other place I am aware of, which would offer the art modules, like the OCA. Certainly not in South Africa…
    This might be a sensitive question, and I’m hesitant to ask it on a public forum, but I am willing to bet it is on others’ minds. My second reaction (first was relief to see the long grace period) was how this will impact the numbers of students the OCA will attract. And whether this might not put so many new potential students off, that the numbers will fall too low for finances to balance out. I’m hopeful that it won’t, and that we would see the same steady stream of motivated newcomers as before…
    But as Eileen and Rob mentioned, and the numbers still show it, it is still excellent value for money. Echo Rob’s last sentence.

    • I think I can see three questions here so will try to address them all:
      1. Can students enrol in advance to avoid fee increases? The answer as Rob suggests is ‘yes’, but within limits. For a number of years the maximum enrolment we have allowed is on a level ie 120 credits. This remains the case so:
      New students: can enrol on 3 x 40 credit level 1 courses
      Students on their first level 1 course can enrol on 2 x 40 level 1 courses
      Students on their second level 1 course can enrol on 1 more level 1 and 1 level 2 course
      All other students can enrol on 2 x 60 credit courses.
      This keeps it manageable for us and prevents students committing themselves too far into the future.
      2. What does the announcement imply for MA fees? The answer is very little. The undergraduate fee increases are a response to a change in Government policy and the withdrawal of public funding. Our aim was to make a one-off adjustment in fee levels and then be able to keep fees broadly constant in real terms going forward. For the MA in Fine Art there has never been public subsidy and we have already announced the fee for September 2012 as £2,533. While I can’t predict general inflation for 2013, there are no drivers pushing this fee up in real terms.
      3. How will the fee increases impact on student numbers? Clearly we expect numbers of students paying as they go along to decline, at least in the short term, but we are well prepared for this. Although the Browne report was published in 2010, many of the factors which were at play were visible long before this. The Trustees and management team have arguably been preparing for today since late 2007 and student numbers are currently 20% higher than they were at that time, so there is no need for current or potential students to be concerned. Finally, the provision of loans for part-time students who do not already have a degree is a new development and in time could lead to increased student numbers.

      • Thanks Gareth, good to know.

• Difficult times. The increase in fees is regrettable but I do see that OCA had little choice. As a current student I hope to be able to take advantage of the chance to take up courses at the current rate for some months. I am also hoping that I will have completed my degree by 2017 so the extended protection until then is very welcome.
  I think OCA is still very good value for money against bricks and mortar institutions. I know I would not be able to consider an arts degree at a traditional institution and am grateful that I have this opportunity.

• Its such a shame that everyone’s being affected in this way, I live in Scotland and our fees aren’t changing, unfortunately the OCA aren’t catering for the different areas and as I pay for my courses out of my own pocket I just can’t afford to go with them. At least the OU is keeping Scotland/Wales/Ireland at the correct rates!

  • I understand you disappointment Shelly but the OU is a far larger organisation with offices in Scotland. This enables it to draw down public money from the Scottish Government to subsidise students in Scotland. One could argue that, even though the the OCA is based in England, if we have Scottish students we should be able to access the same public money. Unfortunately the Scottish Government set the rules and they do not see it that way.

    • Do you think there will ever be a time when you will be able to accept Scottish funding? I would love to be able to use my part time fee grant with you guys 🙁

      • I doubt it unless there is a change in the rules laid down by the Scottish Government and reciprocal arrangements by the Westminster Government and given that the latter seems to be intent on withdrawing funding from everything they can this looks unlikely. Sorry! However the OU is still more expensive (not that they do the art courses anyway) and a Scottish student has to pay whereas they don’t if they go to a bricks and mortar uni in Scotland as I understand it and a Welsh student studying at a Welsh institution has a £3000 pa ceiling but not if they study outside Wales or with the OU…or something like that…complicated ain’t it? 🙁

    • Not sure if this is the right place to say this, but on the info about new students and their loans it is stated that students repay their directgov loans once they earn over £21,000. This is not the case for Scottish students who, regardless of where they study, have to start paying back their loan when they earn over £16,500 (think it might be going up slightly with inflation this year..) So I suspect that this would be the case with a loan for OCA too?

• The total quoted is apparently for the modules required to obtain a degree. However, I seem to recall thre were lots of extra charges – e.g. for having work “assessed” and for having the whole set of results added up and approved by the validating university..
  Have these charges been subsumed in the new fees?
  If not, then it will cost a great deal more than £7,925, even if the fees don’t increase whilst you are studying.

  • Fees for assessment were abolished in 2010 Janet, there are no additional charges – all of the fees are included in the £7,925. Clearly students do spend more than this, on books, materials etc, but the figures quoted are the total fees charged.
    Fees will increase with time. As I say in the article, our intention is that fees will then remain constant in real terms (i.e. rise no faster than the rate of inflation). I think our recent track record shows how committed we are to minimising fees. In the four years before today’s announcement our level one fees have increased by 7.7% in total, far less than inflation over this period.

• Ouch, I can see this must have been a tricky decision – we have all witnessed such price adjustments throughout the university system, so it shouldn’t come as a total surprise I suppose.
  I guess we have become acclimatised to subsidised prices for the courses and now that the funding stream dries up, we realise how good we had it! Equally, I am sure current students will be very appreciative of the measured introduction of the new fee structure…this I think will help.
  No one likes change, nor price hikes…but sadly, we’re all big enough to appreciate it is indicative of where we’re at right now sadly. I think it will effect enrolments in the short term, but for those on the degree pathway, it is still a competitively priced option and potential students doing their homework will know that too.

• Hmmmm. I will have to think about this. I think it unlikely that I would qualify for bursaries etc but my instant reaction is that it’s also highly unlikely that I can justify continuing along the degree pathway. Having just started the first module in October of last year and just passed the milestone of having received feedback on assignment 1 I’m now wondering whether theres any value in continuing with the module I’m enrolled on other than that of taking advantage of costs already committed. It’s a possibility that I might be able to enrol on 2 or three modules to get in under the wire but then no guarantee that I can continue later. Food for thought. I wonder what this will do to student numbers overall.

• Im really not sure about this. One of the reasons I study with the oca is because the fees are good. Im not sure where the fees I pay go anyway, I know it must be on more than the A4 folder I get though the post. Things are already tight for me and this just adds pressure even though Im already studing with the OCA. Im really concerned now.

• Yikes! I think that the new fees will put off a lot of people who are ‘leisure’ students. I have been considering whether to do an OCA degree in the future and this has certainly made my decision easier – I won’t be.

  • Well I am sorry to hear this Clare and I am concerned if existing students like Penny and Mike are concerned.
    Maybe a worked example will help illustrate how the the protection for current students and those who enrol before the end of May works.
    For a student, who has already enrolled on one course or does so before the end of May, the total fee costs of a degree will increase from £4,855 to £5365, an increase of £510. For anyone who is already further down the study pathway the increase is smaller.

    • I have been considering OCA now that I have retired. However, the astronomical jump in fees has put me off. It is one thing to buy something expensive, another thing completely to be thoroughly ripped off. The concept of ‘pricing yourself out of the market’ still applies in 2012 you know. My advice to all of you out there: go to your local library. The books you need to study your chosen subject are sitting there on the shelves just waiting for you. That and access to the Internet are all you need. Plus, you have already paid for your library service through your council tax, so why pay for your tuition twice?

      • What you will not get, and what you are paying for with OCA is the individual tuition element. Certainly you can buy books or get them from the library but who will tell you when you are getting it right or getting it wrong? Who will suggest different ways of working and point you in the direction of things that you hadn’t thought of. Doing an HE level course you will need all those books as well. Yes the price rises are regrettable but with the withdrawal of government funding for arts courses they are unavoidable and the cost of an OCA module (course) is still very competitive…many universities will cost more for one year than the OCA will cost for the full degree.

• Only to be expected but very worrying. As a Level 1 student on my second course (with severely limiting physical disabilities) the protected fee is very welcome, but I’ve not been able to produce any practical work since early December through breakage and dislocation caused by falls.
  Yes, the course time can be suspended while I attempt to recover lost movement but I fear I will never complete the degree course within the time frame.
  I’ve been to the DirectGove student finance website and found this paragraph:
  “From 1 September 2012, eligibility for student finance for part-time courses depends on the ‘intensity’ being at least 25 per cent of a full-time course. For example, if your course takes six years to complete and the full-time equivalent takes three, the intensity will be 50 per cent. Ask your university or college if you’re not sure.”
  Can somebody explain how the OCA Levels breakdown into ‘intensity’ chunks, please? Thanks in advance for any replies.
  As per usual I will no doubt adapt to what I can do and I’ll have set my sights and hopes lower, but I’ll probably bail out after Level 2 now.

  • Hello Janet.
    I am sorry to hear of the difficulties you are experiencing. The first thing I want to say is that the learner support fund is designed precisely to support students such as yourself. So I would not worry about the protected fee time frame at this point, as you could make an application to the fund if you are unable to complete before the end of 2019.
    A full honours degree equates to 360 credits and the standard full time study period is three years, meaning that full-time study is 120 credits a year and 25% ‘intensity corresponds to completing 30 credits a year and the full degree in 12 years. OCA level one courses are 40 credits and the level two and three courses are 60 credits. This means that, on average, the Government would expect loan funded students to complete a level 1 course in 16 months and level 2 and 3 courses in two years.
    I hope this helps.

    • Thanks Gareth,
      I’ve already been very lucky indeed to benefit from the learner support fund and I am really grateful, but I can’t depend on a guarantee of continued funding.
      When you say ‘complete a course’ does that include the process of assessment or is it just finishing the work, please? (Putting a portfolio together for my first course took as long as an assignment ie. months!)

      • Two thoughts on this Janet. Firstly, I am not sure those designing the loans scheme necessarily distinguished between completing the work and being assessed. As long as the general progress is towards completing a degree in 12 years there will not be too much attention on the detailed progress. The second thing is that assembling work for assessment is more challenging the first time – as you progress through the courses you will find it becomes a skill that means you will structure your work as you go along, so that preparing for assessment is more straightforward at the end.

• Hi Gareth,
  This is understandable but a great shame for new students. We are all getting squeezed in all directions. I do hope the increases are a complete necessity, particularly for those of us who live abroad, (although I still pay tax in UK) who find any other way of funding their studies way too expensive.
  Can you confirm though that as I am hopefully finishing the Diploma stage this year, I can purchase my two level 3 courses before September at the current rate. That will certainly help me.
  Thanks

  • Hi Susan
    Yes, I can confirm that as you are on your last level 2 course, you can purchase the two level three courses before 1 September at the current rate.
    I am afraid that the fee increases for both new and continuing students are a necessity. The OCA is an educational charity whose charitable purpose is to widen access to arts education. The charity’s trustees would not allow the management team to increase fees beyond the strictly necessary – not that I would have wanted to.

    • Thank you Gareth,
      On a personal level that is good news and I value the OCA for providing me with this opportunity to obtain a degree.
      I hope other students will find ways of continuing their studies with you.
      Sue

• thank you OCA for protecting existing students – certainy helps focus the mind and creativity

• About 18 months ago, I started enquiring about the MA course and became quite excited at the prospect of being able to do this course online as I live on the Isle of Man. I was told over the phone that there would only be a slight increase in price, so was therefore very dissappointed with the huge price rise. As an unemployed teacher (due to gov. cutbacks), the new price for the MA is just too expensive. Perhaps you have done me a favour in that I have had to develop my art practice without becoming dependent on a course? (but I would still have enjoyed being part of such a community)

• Hello,
  My wife and I just started studying our first level one course at the OCA so hearing the tuition has gone up is a little disappointing. However living in Canada the average cost for a degree is around $60000.00 which works out to 38000.00 pounds so it’s still very good value for us. However it will take us longer to save up now for future courses. I hope just having ordered our first course each, can take advantage of the protected rate for new students for a little while at least. I hope there are still monthly payment plans, as we are still looking forward to continuing our studies with the OCA.

  • Hello Trevor
    Welcome to the OCA, I am happy to confirm you and your wife have current student status so will be able to enrol at the protected rates until 2017.

• Surely the question is whether, for each individual the value of the Course/Degree is equal to or greater than the overall cost in monetary terms leaving aside the intangibles that everyone gains from studying at Degree level such as greater confidence and a wider understanding of the world we live in. Some may wish to include the support that the OCA offers throughout the Course both in terms of the Tutor support and that from the staff at ‘headquarters.
  The Open University is not a fair comparison as it is only at a superficial level that they can be seen to be a direct comparator with the OCA. I have an Honours Degree from the OU and am studying for one with the OCA so am talking from direct experience.
  I have successfully completed two first level Courses and I am about 80% through the final 1st level. I have just begun the second level Course. Throughout I have received the very best support from my Tutors including a great deal of good advice and help that they were under no obligation to supply. I have also found headquarters staff to be helpful, understanding and committed to the OCA. For me, although the increase may mean some sacrifice in other areas of my life, the fees represent very good value and I will continue my studies happy in the knowledge that the returns on my investment will be way beyond the initial costs.

• I am now on my second and probably last module of what I had hoped would lead to a degree.
  I enrolled on the course to improve my skills and take my hobby to a new level. I signed up with OCA as the fees were more affordable but with this increase, I will seriously have to question whether the outlay is worth it.

• Hi Gareth, one question. I’m currently studying a music course. I haven’t paid for a full course but for one course only. As a current student, does that mean that until 2017 I can buy other modules of the degree at the protected cost?? That is 700 pound for a l1 course + inflation until 2017?
  Best Regards

  • Hi Carlos
    Yes, that’s right.

• Hi Gareth,
  I am a little confused after reading your reply to Janet regarding the time that students, who receive student finance from the goverment, are expected to complete their degree. I am currently on my second level 1 course and i receive student finance. when i enrolled i was sent a ‘program schedule for student finance funded students’, which clearly states that the goverment expects me to complete a BA degree within 6 years (twice the time it would take a student to complete within a bricks and mortar institution) this breaksdowns to the following; all 3 level 1 courses to be completed within the first 2 years, levels 2 and 3 completed over 12 months each. This schedule however is different to the one you have explained to Janet in which you state that the goverment expect funded students to complete within 12 years, please can you clarify?

  • Hi Faye
    I can see why you might be wondering. My answer to Janet concerned the loan scheme which is being introduced on 1 September and which has a maximum study schedule of 12 years. The current grant scheme which you are on has a maximum study schedule of 6 years, so it is less generous in this respect but at least it is a grant rather than a loan.

  • Hi Faye/Gareth, I would like to enrol for level 1 before the increase and would be looking at student finance.Faye or Gareth could you tell me about the grant is it still available?Also is this course only eligible for p/t finance which cannot be applied for until the summer?Or could it be considered full time long distance?
    I was wondering if by enrolling for a course before June 1st(ie protected)would then impact applying for p/t finance which is not until August I think??tAny feedback appreciated,thanks!

    • Hi Maxine
      The Student Finance Loans for P/T students only start on 1 September and are only for new students, ie if you enrol before then you will not be eligible for a loan.
      In the meantime there grants available from Student Finance England if you meet the income criteria. So it is possible you could get a grant and enrol in time to get protected status. The best thing to do is to ring the office and ask to discuss your options with Dee Whitmore.

• Hi Gareth
  I am currently on my second level 1 course. I was hoping to pursue the degree option, but with the increase and the exchange rate of South African Rand to Pound I will not be able to continue to study through OCA. I have also found the postage very expensive. I am very disappointed.

  • Hi Wendy
    Your comment led me to look up the Rand/Sterling exchange rate and I can see that a 33% change in one year is pretty hard to cope with. One thought that you might want to consider is that if you complete 3 level one courses you could exit with a qualification – a Certificate in Higher Education (CertHE) If the postal costs are an issue you could choose a course where work can be submitted electronically (eg Graphic Design, Art of Photography, Visual Culture)

    • Hi Wendy
      The ZAR is about 1:1 to the Chinese Yuan, so I know what you mean too. Gareth mentioned doing the third course electronically. Just to let you know it really is possible! I’ve done TAOP (Art of Photography) as well as PaP (People and Place) totally digital! Assignments were emailed in, and in the end, I just posted the well prepared DVD with all the material and logbook in digital format to OCA HQ in the UK.
      If you’re on your second course, the increase for the third is going to be little steep, but you are so close to a Cert in HE, you are well over halfway!
      (Moenie nou opgee nie!) and for you Brits, that means ‘don’t give up now!
      Dewald

• It is a real shame that the OCA have had to do this. I understand that it will have been a last resort as this organisation has always kept their fees low.
  I probably will carry on but it will have to look at my tight pursestrings and maybe do the course over a longer period.
  Thanks for giving existing students a window of oppourtunity to get the degree done at reasonable cost.
  This is a great organisation and deserves funding from a big private company.
  I was wondering could we not organise a ‘Cake Day’ where students bake a cake e.g. to sell outside their home or work and raise a pot of money that all students could access if they need it e.g. people already with degrees, leisure learners and overseas students. Just a thought in hard times.

  • Hi Hannah
    Thank you for your kind words about the OCA, they are greatly appreciated.
    On your idea about the pot of money to support students, we already have a Learner Support Fund which can provide bursaries and other financial support to students. In discussion with the Student Association we have agreed to widen the scope of the fund from just students based in the UK to all students.
    We do receive charitable donations to the learner support fund already, often from former students, but we have not tended to publicise this activity. So, if you want to organise an event to raise funds for the Learner Support Fund, we would be happy to support you.

• Would it be possible to speed up the assessment process a little this summer, so that those who are dithering about whether to carry on to the next level,can make an informed decision based on their results? Usually the results come at the very tail end of August or beginning of September and of course the deadline for reduced fees is September 1st.

  • Hi Catherine
    This is an entirely reasonable request and we will make sure that all students have at least two weeks to make the decisions you describe – i.e. we will ensure all students have their assessment results no later than Friday 17 August. The assessment process involves the university as well as the OCA but if we can get results out earlier than this, we will.

• Sorry if this sounds stupid, but I am new to this and am really interested in becoming a student at the OCA. When is it possible to start a course? If you wish to begin before 1st June 2012?
  Thank you for your time!

  • Hi Amie
    You can start a course any time… The main OCA site (http://www.oca-uk.com/) may answer some more questions, the FAQ tab is quite useful!
    We don’t have ‘semesters’ at OCA… start as soon as you get your course material, and that you will get just a few days after enrolling (little longer if you’re outside the UK).
    We’re a nice group, so join in!

    • Wow, thats fantastic.
      I just need to figure out the whole student financing thing now…
      Thanks for you reply 🙂

• Hi Gareth & Dewald – thank you for your suggestions!

• Hello, I am new to this website. I am interested in enrolling for a BA Hons in Photography. I have downloaded the application form and have filled out my details, however, I am stuck on the payment process. I am 18 years of age and I would be entitled to student finace which I have double checked on the Direct gov page.
  On my dowloaded form, it wants me to pay now and send a deposit.
  I was wondering if I have to apply for the student finance now…..
  I am confused :-/
  Thanks a lot
  Chantelle

  • Hi Chantelle
    The downloaded form only really works for students who are self financing. If you ring the office between 9 and 5 Monday to Thursday or 9 and 4 on Friday and ask to speak to Dee, she will explain how to deal with Student Finance. The number is 0800 731 2116. Hope this helps
    Gareth

• Thank you very much Gareth. I will ring Monday.
  Chantelle

• I just found this via the interesting Visual Culture blog:
  http://visualcultureblog.com/2012/02/photography-degree-courses-in-the-uk/
  For me, it goes a good way of illustrating what good value the OCA courses are, even after the price increases – the cheapest still come in at over £10k if you qualify for the discounted rates, and most are at least double the cost. Throw in the ability to carry on working, and for me it’s all a bit of a no-brainer…

  • … but no mention in there of OCA?

    • I noticed that also Stan, and assumed it was because OCA
      don’t actually award the degress – the accrediting University does that.

      • Thanks Rob for drawing this to our attention. I have emailed Marco to ask him to add us to the list.

    • I tried adding a comment to the blog, but he seems to have moderated it out. Perhaps because Gareth also contacted him…

• Hi,
  Does the full degree cost of £7,925 mean the 360 points for 3 years, or only one year etc? I was a bit confused since the amount does not seem to correlate with the stage 2/3 unit price of £1,250.
  Thanks
  James

  • Hi James
    Yes, it is £7,925 for the full degree (360 credits).
    Level One course are 40 credits and the fees will be £975
    Level Two and Three courses are 60 credits and the fees will be £1250
    So to study for a full degree will cost 3x£975 plus 4x£1250
    Hope this helps

• It’s the full 360 points for an honours degree:
  3 x level 4(1) modules @ £975 = £2925
  2 x level 5(2) modules @ £1250 = £2500
  2 x level 6(3) modules @ £1250 = £2500
  Total £7925

• Hi
  I have degree, and a hefty student loan to boot with no way of paying back before I retire (that’s if they ever let me)due to low income….I looked at this course but alas the fees were already beyond my range and now more so 🙁

• I am retired and just want to do a final 3rd level course but, having not taken an OCA course for some time (and dropped out) will I qualify for a student loan?
  The chances are I could never pay it back even though I am looking to find work for a couple of days a week.
  Does OCA run a similar scheme to OU for financial support?

  • Yes, there is a learner support fund Sylvia, see here:
    http://www.oca-uk.com/help/fees-and-enrolment
    Student loans are only available for students seeking to study for a degree.

• I ‘get’ that unversity fees are going up but the last time I checked out the OCA website a few weeks ago you were poo-pooing any mention of increasing fees because you claimed to be funded differently. What happend? I’m very annoyed. On your false confidence I made plans and turned down other opportunities and now none of it’s going to happen. Can I suggest that at the next election we DON’T vote for dodgy Tories or ineffectual Lib Dems. Most of new policy is standard Tory “let’s cut public spending and farm as much out to the private sector as possible” ideology dressed as regretable ‘Austerity Measures’ and then we are scared into submission with footage of Greek Riots and gental wispers of “that could be us next” The country could be rolling in it and they’d still be pushing the same policies. Sorry for being political but it’s politics that have created the funding issues we are now facing.

• Thanks for reminding me about the end of May deadline! I knew there was something, but with computer crash had lost all info. Dang, gonna have to fork out now. Especially hard coming in the same month as new computer; but c’est la vie. There’s never a good time to spend money!

  • Just read it again—does this mean I don’t have to do anything till September because I am currently enrolled?

    • Vicki – if you are currently studying on a course then you should be a protected student. Please call OCA Head Office to clarify if you are unsure.
      The current prices will remain until 31st August 2012 so if you wish to enrol on your next course(s) at the current prices, you can do so up until then.
      Otherwise, from September protected students would be able to enrol at the protected fees rather than the new fees.
      Hope this helps.

• HI: Sorry to hear about the increased fees. Costs are rising everywhere.
  I live in Canada, and have finally decided I need to register in the Painting Course 1 – The Practice of Painting. Alas I’m a little slow here and just now realized the last day of May is tomorrow!!!
  Egads.
  Can you please tell me
  although my debit and/or credit card is through Visa and a bank here in Vancouver (I’m on the
  West Coast of Canada)
  can I pay the instalment way and will OCU take my instalments directly out of my Visa or bank count?
  I hope I’m not making a problem for myself here!!!!

  • Hi Josie
    We are happy for overseas students to take advantage of the instalment facility. We would require a deposit of £430 and then 5 monthly instalments of £75 could be taken from your debit card, or you could make a monthly bank transfer.
    Please call us on (+44) 01226 730495 to enrol
    Regards
    Dee

    • Hello Dee
      Thank you and your school for replying. It is so tempting. Alas I will be attending art school here in North America in illustration. However, I am interested in your Painting 1. It looks exactly what I would need after I finish here in December, 2012. Money is disappearing out of my pocket as it is now. But perhaps at the end of the year. So appreciate your replies. Thank you.
      Regards, Josie

• P.S. Rob’s calling our attention to fee increases and what it is elsewhere is a good point.
  I am not going for a degree (so far) but will return at the end of the year because OCS is still offering far better courses and the prices are lower compared to North America (online).
  Thanks again. Josie

• I am SO disappointed. I am just looking at enrolling on a level 1 Art History course, having been priced out of the OU, but see that the prices here are now also going up massively. I remember when there was the issue of the OU prices increasing (going from £700 to £2500 for a 60 point course), I wrote asking if that was going to happen with OCA, and I was given the assurance that prices would stay in line with inflation. I appreciate that the increase is not as great as the OU, but I am going to have to really think about whether I can afford to even start, as the deadline of 2017 is tight for a part time learner with lots of other commitments.I just wish I’d started years ago 🙁

• I have been looking at the OCA for some time with a view of enrolling on the degree course as, having explored other distance learning courses, OCA appear to offer exactly what I wanted and could afford. Aged 54, I intended this course to set goals for what has always been a hobby and achieve a degree in the process. With level 1 courses costing £625 I was prepared to ‘Suck it and See’ just how good OCA is and balance the course with work committments. Sadly at the point I can now commit my free time to doing course work the fees have increased substantially. At just short of £1000 per module this is no longer an option, and while it is still good value for young students who are looing towards a vocation, for a mature student like myself I’m not sure the returns outweigh the cost which would currently be £7925. Sadly I won’t be enrolling at OCA as I had hoped.

  • Your situation seems to be just like mine, I want to further my interest in art history. I have found http://www.londonartcollege.co.uk which has courses for interest rather than accreditation, have a look…I hope you can find the course you want.

    • Thank you Sarah, at first glance their price structure looks reasonable. I shall have to investigate further. Thank you again.

  • As various people have commented, at the end of the day the question to ask is whether the course offered is value for momey. Comparison with OU in this instance is irrelevant as they don’t offer a Painting degree course and a full time University course is a completely different experience. Having already completed a fulltime BA (Hons) in Design (30 yeats ago) the obvious plus was that as an art student you work in a stimulating environment with your peers, have daily contact time with tutors and technicians, and the use of department resources. Obviously these days such benefits come at a considerable cost.
    Before dismissing the opportunity to study at OCA it would be useful to get a full picture of what you actually get for the £975/£1250 per module. Having read the information on the site I understand there is an additional cost for face to face contact with a tutor and obviously additional cost in sending work for assessment. Unfortunateley reviews on the internet have not been too helpful so some first hand experience of the OCA Painting course would be helpful. In a nutshell, what does my £975 for the Drawing 1 module give me. Is it value for money?

• Well. I have been toying with the idea of doing a degree, and finally I thought I had enough money together to start it all without worrying about struggling. And then I just read the bombshell that is your ridiculous price increase. I wish I’d seen it back in May. I may have tried scraping the money together earlier to start the course and get the fees protected for a few years. Nigh on £1000 pounds a module. Wow. I appreciate that tutors need paying for and money doesn’t grow on trees, our wages don’t increase either. Mine haven’t, they have been frozen for the last 3 years, the government won’t even keep in line with inflation. So a £350 increase per module is nothing short of shocking, that’s half the price of the module again on top. Disappointed. Very disappointed.

  • Compared to the increases on traditional university and college fees and the OU, the OCA has done pretty well to keep the fees as low as they are. If you want to blame anyone you might think of blaming the government who have withdrawn so much of the funding that was put into HE in the past.

    • My point was that I was given assurance OCA wasn’t going to do exactly what they have done. Sorry to be blunt but I think it’s very unfair. I totally agree that the whole Fee system is awful now, for everyone…

• For anyone interested, here is what was said about the fee increases a year ago –
  http://www.weareoca.com/education/fees-again/
  And you can find a more detailed explanation of OCA and FE funding by Gareth here –
  http://www.weareoca.com/education/browne-what-it-means-for-oca-students/

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