So while checking my student study profile every day (as you do when you are waiting for your credit transfer to be approved) I was delighted and overjoyed to see that it had been approved! although I had more than 120 credits they were all at level 1 so I just the 120 at level 1 and am clear to study level 2, or so I thought.
See, I have had a bumpy road where I had tried to study with OU before and had a personal tragedy and so stopped studying but didn't withdraw and so I had a restriction marker put on my profile. This was almost 10 years ago. Not long after that I got myself into trouble was given a custodial prison sentence. While in jail I considered studying with OU and looked into it but wanted to wait until my life was back to normal, well stable and better than the previous norm anyway.
In 2014 I studied a HNC at South Thames College to see if I could handle study before going back to a degree. I manged to get my credits and follow through to the end. So then I decided to give it a couple of years to get my career cemented then go back to my degree. Things were notched up a gear when I ruptured a disc in my back and now walking is difficult and going to a normal uni is out of the question.
Trying to get back into OU is been a trial that I would have given up on a few years ago. There are so many hoops to jump through!!! Firstly I was told that I was still on the system as a student in custody and I would have to get my probation officer to confirm that I am now in the community and allow to study independently. That would not be a problem If I were still on probation but I had long finished my probation and my officer had moved to a different department and getting through to her and getting her to fill the form took months! Especially as she filled it out incorrectly and I had to go back and forth. Luckily enough the department dealing with it was great (SSE?). Anyway. Finally that was done and then I was referred to another department as a progression restriction was on due to failed modules. I had to fill out a form to say how my situation had changed and how I could be sure that I would be successful this time. I filled out the form and wrote my statement and sent it off.
I was contacted by another adviser who said he would be happy to help me but as I have studied since then I would have to do my credit transfer before he could lift the restriction. I had to go back to the college to try and get the certificate I had never received, only to find out that they had sent it to the wrong address but because I had not addressed it earlier then I had no way of getting a new one through them. They gave me a Notice of Performance and i had to send that through to Credit Transfer. After a while I got an email back saying that that would not be sufficient. So I had to go to Pearsons and buy a new certificate and that took about 3 weeks. Once I got that through I sent that to Credit transfer which took another few weeks. Now it has all come through and I was ecstatic. I have had an email that my restriction will now be lifted temporarily.
Talk about letting the air out of my balloon! I wanted to register on 3 modules for this year as I want to study 120 credits per year. I am hoping that there will not be too many more hoops to jump through - I don't think my back can take anymore!
A Victory!.... or is it?
So while checking my student study profile every day (as you do when you are waiting for your credit transfer to be approved) I was delighted and overjoyed to see that it had been approved! although I had more than 120 credits they were all at level 1 so I just the 120 at level 1 and am clear to study level 2, or so I thought.
See, I have had a bumpy road where I had tried to study with OU before and had a personal tragedy and so stopped studying but didn't withdraw and so I had a restriction marker put on my profile. This was almost 10 years ago. Not long after that I got myself into trouble was given a custodial prison sentence. While in jail I considered studying with OU and looked into it but wanted to wait until my life was back to normal, well stable and better than the previous norm anyway.
In 2014 I studied a HNC at South Thames College to see if I could handle study before going back to a degree. I manged to get my credits and follow through to the end. So then I decided to give it a couple of years to get my career cemented then go back to my degree. Things were notched up a gear when I ruptured a disc in my back and now walking is difficult and going to a normal uni is out of the question.
Trying to get back into OU is been a trial that I would have given up on a few years ago. There are so many hoops to jump through!!! Firstly I was told that I was still on the system as a student in custody and I would have to get my probation officer to confirm that I am now in the community and allow to study independently. That would not be a problem If I were still on probation but I had long finished my probation and my officer had moved to a different department and getting through to her and getting her to fill the form took months! Especially as she filled it out incorrectly and I had to go back and forth. Luckily enough the department dealing with it was great (SSE?). Anyway. Finally that was done and then I was referred to another department as a progression restriction was on due to failed modules. I had to fill out a form to say how my situation had changed and how I could be sure that I would be successful this time. I filled out the form and wrote my statement and sent it off.
I was contacted by another adviser who said he would be happy to help me but as I have studied since then I would have to do my credit transfer before he could lift the restriction. I had to go back to the college to try and get the certificate I had never received, only to find out that they had sent it to the wrong address but because I had not addressed it earlier then I had no way of getting a new one through them. They gave me a Notice of Performance and i had to send that through to Credit Transfer. After a while I got an email back saying that that would not be sufficient. So I had to go to Pearsons and buy a new certificate and that took about 3 weeks. Once I got that through I sent that to Credit transfer which took another few weeks. Now it has all come through and I was ecstatic. I have had an email that my restriction will now be lifted temporarily.
Talk about letting the air out of my balloon! I wanted to register on 3 modules for this year as I want to study 120 credits per year. I am hoping that there will not be too many more hoops to jump through - I don't think my back can take anymore!