Open University maintenance loan

[bumpdownthestairs]

Quick question that I can't find a straight answer to on google; if I study an Open University degree full time will I be entitled to a maintenance loan? Or is it only if you attend in person? Thanks for reading 😊

No. DS1 did an OU Degree & could only get student finance for the tuition fees, not any sort of living expenses.

Thanks so much for your answer! I couldn't find a straight one anywhere.

yeah you only get tuition fees and I might be wrong but I'm sure you can only get the fees for part time courses

It depends where you live. England and you can only get a maintenance loan if you have a disability that means you can't attend a brick uni. In Wales you can get a tuition fee loan, maintenance loans and grant while studying through OU part time regardless of disability.

England is maintenance loan only for in person (covid aside!) not distance learning, but can be part time in-person.

Thanks everyone, I am in England, will keep looking at the best way to do it. I fancied FT OU but with a 2 year old to look after it wouldn't leave much time for a part time job as well. May have to look at part time but the 6 years of study is a bit long. Definitely regret not going to university at 18!

Why don’t you look into normal “full time” usually 3 days 24 hours ish uni instead? Then you’d be eligible for all the finance.
I started my course at 30 with 2 kids.

Like Raspberryk I went to uni full time at 31 with two young children in Primary School. I had no social life at uni and spent very little time in the library but it was do-able. The hours were such that I didn’t even need childcare as I was always able to pick them up from school or swap afternoons with a friend. But no uni will guarantee such a timetable. Gosh life was busy but it was well worth all the effort even if the 80s did pass me by.

Thanks both, nearest uni is 35 miles away so quite a trek but doable I suppose 😊 I will have to look into placements etc and see if I will be able to work around it all.