Student Fees from August 2024

We are announcing today the fees which will apply in the next academic year (from 01 August 2024 to 31 July 2025). As a registered charity we are committed to providing value for money whilst ensuring the sustainability and financial health of the organisation in order to enable us to continue to offer these services in the future and over the lifespan of your studies with us.

 

Last year we explained that our organisational costs were rapidly increasing, due to both inflation which is being felt around the world, and costs associated with our move to The Open University. This has continued to happen as the organisation has moved from a position of surplus, to a position of deficit, with a forecast accumulated deficit of circa £900,000 by the end of the 23/24 financial year. 

 

Why is this happening? 

• OCA’s operational costs have increased, both as a consequence of our transfer to The Open University, and inflation. 
• Increases we are making to support services and other areas of provision under The Open University, whilst these create an enhanced experience for students, they also come with increased costs. These services include new posts and increased provision across support teams at OCA, including Information, Advice, and Guidance, Learner Support, Library support, Technology Enhanced Learning just to name some.  
• In addition we are making systems and cybersecurity improvements as we change the ‘back office’ environment to align with OU systems and processes, which will lead to enhancements in the service we can provide. 
• Finally, the enrolment pause required as part of the transfer and changes to the Student Finance environment both reduced income at the back end of the 22/23 academic year, and resulted in lower than expected enrolments in the first quarter of the 23/24 academic year. 

 

All of these things combined to contribute to the financial picture we have outlined. Our aim is to return to positive reserves as soon as possible to ensure that we can continue to make meaningful improvements to the services we provide.

 

We did increase student fees in 22/23 in order to try to mitigate some of these rising costs however the trustees at the time took a conservative approach and as explained (and as is evident from our financial statements) the costs have continued to grow and outpace the income. 

 

Student Fees 2024/25

 

For UK students in the forthcoming academic year, each credit studied at undergraduate level will be £51.55 per credit (£41.25 in 2023/24). So for a 40 credit unit this equates to £2,062, or £3,093 for a 60 credit unit. (25% increase)

 

For International students in the forthcoming academic year, each credit studied at undergraduate level will be £59.05 per credit (£47.25 in 2023/24). So for a 40 credit unit this equates to £2,362, or £3,543 for a 60 credit unit. (25% increase)

 

At postgraduate level the cost per credit for new cohorts beginning in 2024 is £61.88 (£49.50 in 2023/24), so each 60 credit unit is £3,713 for UK students; and for students outside the UK £82.50 (£66 2023/24) per credit, so each 60 credit unit is £4,950. (25% increase).

 

Foundation courses will increase to £1,075 (£1,025 in 2023/24) for UK-based students and £1,235 (£1,175 in 2023/24) for international students.

 

Short courses will increase to £350 (£335 in 2023/24), these fees apply to all UK-based and international students.

 

Rationale

 

Increasing tuition fees is, at the moment, the only way for OCA to cover the increasing costs that we are facing. We do not receive additional funding in the form of external grants or sponsorship, which we are aiming to improve in the coming years through establishing further short courses and HTQ provision to diversify our income. Our strategic plan sets out the ways we will do this. 

 

OCA fees (and OCA services) remain different to those of the Open University since OCA does not yet operate or receive the same nation specific subsidies for study, and therefore the Board of Trustees have listened to you when approving these fees to ensure that they represent the quality and value for money you can expect from OCA provision. 

 

We recognise that some students will face financial difficulties during their study so we are increasing the amount of hardship funding available for students who may struggle to pay fees. We are also increasing the criteria and number of funding applications which are considered, therefore making a greater number of students eligible for structured bursaries and support to study. In particular due to the impact of fees on self-funding students we are arranging targeted bursaries to support students at greater risk of falling into hardship. We are offering additional advice to students on ways to find funding to support study as you may not be aware of all of the options available to you.

 

The College remains committed to working with the student association to enhance study support and student communications, and are currently investing in these areas. This includes the recruitment of posts to directly assist students in areas such as library support, disabled student support and learning environment and technology enhancement. 

 

Fee increases are unwelcome, especially with this cost-of-living crisis that we are all experiencing. We are working with the student association and using our evidence of bursary and subsidy uptake to understand the impact on different groups of OCA students and to target support for those most vulnerable and we are working very hard to minimise the impact of these increases on everyone who chooses to study with us. We will be working with The Open University to create new financing options for students and to explain options for seeking funding, and where applicable subsidisation of study.

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