OU cancelling all exams and EMAs

[SeasonallySnowyPeasant]

I got the email along with everyone else this morning and am feeling really relieved. My head really isn’t in the right place to write an EMA with everything going on right now.

I’m interested to see the reasoning when they give more details next week.

How’s everyone else feeling about it?

I don’t think they’ve gone far enough really. I have another assignment due at the end of April which I’ve not had any chance to tackle given my changed circumstances. This assignment I’m now told has far more weighting due to cancelling the EMA — so they’ve only added to my stress really. Very disappointed in their communication of things up to this point given brick and mortar universities and colleges have generally been much more proactive.

I'm A105 and have had the exam cancelled. The module result will now be based on normal assignments. Few people in my group pissed off with it as I think they've been half arsed on assignments and relying on the exam.

Personally, I'm fine with it. A bit disappointing but nothing in the grand scheme of things.

I wonder whether they’ll also cancel any upcoming TMAs. I have one left but it’s an essay plan for the EMA and is marked as part of the EMA itself.

Very disappointed in their communication of things up to this point given brick and mortar universities and colleges have generally been much more proactive.

Generally they have but some have been horrendous. One, which I won't name, has told all students who want to defer their current studies until September that this will mean paying additional course fees to repeat the whole module if they are not happy to do the online version of the course.

I think the situation has evolved so rapidly that they’ve all been caught on the back foot (haven’t we all).

My bricks and mortar university has been spectacularly shit and done more u-turns than my mum lost in a city centre one-way system so not all universities have been amazing.

We're still having to do exams, or exams reformatted into assignments online - which is fantastic as a mature student with kids around and the university just DO NOT GET THIS!

I'm devastated. This current situation is my pretty much my worst nightmare for a couple of reasons and I really needed my studies as a distraction. Plus I got a much lower than usual mark for one of my tmas due to a combination of my mental health and the death of my Grandmother so not at all happy I won't have the EMA to balance it out.

I must admit I was really pleased. I'm doing 2 x 30 credit modules this year, and one I really haven't taken to, and since I've already done my last TMA for that, I can leave it now. I will still finish reading the last textbook, but such a relief I don't have to do any more essays for that!

For my other module, I still have one TMA, but I've enjoyed that module more, so I don't mind. I've also done well on the TMAs so far, so quite happy to have ditched the exam!

I appreciate others may be in a different position though.

I'm really glad one of my module's EMA has been cancelled but I was actually looking forward to the other one. Never mind, it's the least of the worries at the moment and deferring is always an option for those who want to do the EMA next year (I definitely will not be doing that!)

I got the email last night too. I'm kind of relieved as this is my 2nd time doing the module I'm on. I had to defer it last time as I wasn't getting it and not scoring very highly on the TMAs. I've got decent marks on the TMAs this time and I was dreading the EMA, so it was a weight off my mind.

This is my sixth and last year so I’m finished. Very weird feeling.

Sorry to hear your situation isn’t great @Dinosauratemydaffodils. Do you think you’ll defer and do it next year? If it’s a level 3 module with a set-it-yourself EMA I guess you could carry on with it now, submit it next year and feel super-prepared?

I hadn't realised they had cancelled all EMAs too - mine was exam based this module.

Can totally see why an EMA would feel like a step too far for many people right now though.

A few people on our module Facebook page are worrying about assigments that they've skipped on the basis they were only worth a minimal percentage. If weighting still applies, which I assume it does they are now worth a much bigger percentage. I wonder if the OU will use substitution where this is the case?

Still one assignment to go here - not heard that it's been cancelled so plodding on.

Plodding on here too. My tutor this year hasn't been much more than a name on an email this time so I am not looking to him for support. I shall just get the half finished tma in next week and hope it gets an OK mark.

I'm glad about the EMA as I have little time to prepare for it now but I would have actually liked to get my teeth stuck in. Oh well.

Theyve replaced my exam with an online exam, apparently at the same time as my offline exam. I really dont want to be studying the next 6 weeks eith two kids at home one with significant SN. Its shit

On the plus side, open book exam, get in!

It's my final year too, I'm relieved not to have to write 2 EMA's but am also disappointed my OU journey will be over sooner than expected.

It is not quite all EMAs and exams, students need to check their module for the definitive answer. Do remember that you can submit a special circumstances form (with appropriate evidence) for any TMAs with a low score earlier in the module which will be considered by the exam board. It is a tricky and evolving situation. For every student who might have done better on the EMA, there are others who did well on earlier assignments who now unexpectedly have children at home or are working extra shifts as key workers (or both). The Open University probably has far more students in this situation than most universities. For anyone with assignments still to submit just talk to your tutor about an extension.

SeasonallySnowyPeasant and TommyandGina congratulations on finishing your degree!!

Do remember that you can submit a special circumstances form (with appropriate evidence) for any TMAs with a low score earlier in the module which will be considered by the exam board.

Bit tricky to get evidence in the circumstances though.

For example I can get my grandmother's death certificate but without my mother's birth certificate & marriage certificate plus possibly my grandmother's second marriage certificate, all that proves is someone died...not that I lost my grandmother.

No idea how I can prove my mental health either given that my psychiatrist has been redeployed and the GP/adult mental health team all have better things to do. I can't even get a prescription off them for anti-depressants despite having been previously prescribed/having suicidal thoughts at the moment.

I've got one more tma to go and I'm still waiting for the results of another (and getting somewhat worried about my tutor because she's not been heard from so hoping she's okay) so will decide later on what I'm going to do.