Information, advice, and guidance statement of service

Our purpose is to support you to understand the nature of OU study, to make choices about study options and to achieve your aspirations, including both study and career goals. Throughout this statement, where you see references to ‘we’, ‘us’, or ‘our’ this means The Open University. ‘You’ refers to you as the Student.

Who can access the service

We welcome enquirers and prospective students, students pursuing an undergraduate, taught postgraduate, Vocational Qualification, or Open University microcredential qualification or stand-alone course. Find all up to date contact details on our Contact Us pages.
We provide this service via specialist teams to:
- Apprentices who should contact us by phone on 0300 303 4121, or email [email protected]. (Available 09:00-17:30 Monday to Friday, except bank holidays).
- Postgraduate Research Students who should contact [email protected]
- Students in Secure Environments who should contact [email protected]
- Young Applicants under 18 years should contact us via, Young Applicants in Schools Scheme (YASS) | Open University in Scotland, or via [email protected]

If you are thinking about OU study, we offer IAG on:

Supported open learning.
Whether OU study is right for you.
Qualifications and modules available through the OU.
The support available for personal circumstances that affect your study.
The impact that any disability may have and the range of support available.
Advice and support regarding mental health and well-being.
How to use credit from prior study towards an OU qualification if you have studied at higher education level before.
Signposting to external organisations that may help you with decision making.

If you are currently studying with us, we offer:

Planning support for educational and career development.
Advice on non-academic issues that may arise while studying.
Support for students who have a disability.
Support and advice resources to help maintain good mental health and wellbeing.
Information, advice and support for planning to attend a residential school or online school.
Referral to careers and employability services and other internal specialists for advice and guidance.

How do we offer this service?

For prospective students, a wide range of IAG resources are available through the University’s website on our online prospectus. For further advice and guidance regarding study options and choices our specialist advisors can be contacted by telephone, email or Webchat via Contact the OU.

For registered students, advice and support is offered primarily online through our StudentHome website. Further advice and support is provided by our specialist support teams. Contact details are provided on StudentHome.

Setting Expectations

We expect you to:

Respect our community values as found in the Student Charter and in our Dignity and Respect Policy.
Let us know any relevant information and contact us as soon as you need advice.

You can expect us to:

Offer free, impartial and informed support.
Respect confidentiality and comply with the University’s Student Privacy Notice. Please note our Safeguarding Policy may require us to pass information securely to other parties in some circumstances.
Work in accordance with Equality legislation.
Work to appropriate timescales.
- We can usually provide an appropriate response within two working days; this may be up to five working days close to and during module and qualification registration. Our initial reply will let you know if it will take longer than two working days for us to respond. If the matter is complex, we will describe the action we are taking and the likely response time.
Ensure that our IAG staff are trained and knowledgeable and follow an appropriate programme of staff development.
To follow the principles of the nationally recognised Matrix quality standard and our Student Privacy Notice which explains in detail how we use personal student data.
Provide advice and guidance in Welsh if you want this, the OU welcomes correspondence in Welsh. You can learn more about how the OU provides its services in line with the Welsh Language Standards.
Mae'r Brifysgol Agored yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg. Gallwch ddysgu mwy am sut mae'r Brifysgol Agored yn darparu ei wasanaeth yn unol â Safonau'r Gymraeg. Ffon: +44(0)29 20 47 1170, ebost: [email protected]

Making a Complaint

If for any reason you are unhappy with our service, your complaint will be fully investigated, in confidence, and we will do our best to resolve it fairly and quickly in accordance with our Complaints and Appeals Procedure.

We welcome your feedback

We regularly use student feedback questionnaires and surveys to inform our service development, and we encourage you to take part and share your views and comments.

Contact us

Contact us and speak with one of our student support advisors on: +44(0)300 303 5303 (Monday to Friday, 08:00 - 17:30 or Saturday, 09:00 - 17:00) or email us from our website at Contact Us.

The OU welcomes correspondence in Welsh. You can learn more about how the OU provides its services in line with the Welsh Language Standards.

Mae'r Brifysgol Agored yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg. Gallwch ddysgu mwy am sut mae'r Brifysgol Agored yn darparu ei wasanaeth yn unol â Safonau'r Gymraeg. Ffon: +44(0)29 20 47 1170

Ebost: [email protected]