FAQs

1. 100% resettlement (PF FE/HE or joint ELC & PF FE/HE)
   
   Takes care of up to 360 credits worth of OU module fees leading to your first recognised undergraduate qualification. (This can be either a BA or BSc ordinary or honours degree or a Foundation Degree).
    
2. 80% ELC
   
   Funds most OU credit bearing modules being counted towards a qualification providing you pay at least 20% from your own resources.
   
   Remember:  before you submit a claim to ELCAS you must deduct any OU discount for which you are eligible

Details of other funding options, including a range of scholarships and bursaries are explained on the OU Fees and Funding page.

The fees published on the ELCAS website are for students eligible to pay the Standard England fee in the current academic year. You will need to adjust your Claim Authorisation Note (CAN) if you are eligible to pay a different fee or are applying for a later academic year.

OU module fees increase each academic year (1st September – 31st August). Fees for the next academic year are made available on our website and on the ELCAS website from March each year. As we can only advertise one academic year’s fees at any one time on the ELCAS website, and they must match the fees we are advertising on the OU website, if you are adding modules to your Claim Authorisation Note (CAN) that start in a later academic year than the one advertised on the OU website, please contact us for future module fee information.

If your chosen module includes an integral residential school where you are attending a face-to-face version, you will need to self-fund the food and accommodation element. Please see 'My chosen module has an integral residential school, is this still eligible for ELC funding?' FAQ.

However, if you are studying an undergraduate module and paying the standard fee in England or Wales, you will be eligible for the total ELC funding available for the module as, where you attend a face to face school, you will be charged an additional residential school fee to cover the accommodation and food cost element that is separate to the module fee, which you will need to self-fund.

If you are undertaking an online integral residential school or online alternative, you will not incur any accommodation and food costs so will not need to remove this fee element from the module fee before you apply to ELCAS for ELC funding.

If you are attending a residential school that is not an integral part of the module and the module description indicates that you will be charged a separate fee to attend, ELC funding will not cover this additional fee and you will have to self-fund. However, this means that you will not have to remove any accommodation and food costs from the module fee before you apply to ELCAS for ELC funding.

Yes you can, but only where the fees for your chosen start date are advertised on the OU website. This is because we are only able to advertise one academic year's fees at any one time on the ELCAS website, and the fees on the ELCAS website must match what is currently being advertised on the OU website. If you are adding modules to your Claim Authorisation Note (CAN) that start at a later date to the ones being advertised on the OU prospectus, please contact us for future module fee information.

The OU needs to invoice the MOD within nine months of your first module starting. Therefore, if you have more than one module on your CAN and the modules start at different times, you need to complete registration on all modules as soon as they become available for registration. We may contact you prior to the FED for registration on any subsequent module where your registration is still outstanding.

Please make sure that you send a registration agreement to cover every module that appears on your CAN as we are unable to invoice the MOD for your ELC funding until you are registered on all these modules.

Yes, your module is still eligible for ELC funding but any part of the module fee that covers food and accommodation costs incurred from attending a face-to-face version of the integral residential school element will not be eligible for ELC funding.

If your chosen module includes an integral residential school where you are attending a face-to-face version, you will need to self-fund the food and accommodation element. For details of the food and accommodation costs of the integral residential school, please contact us at: partnerships-enquiries@open.ac.uk.

If you are undertaking an online integral residential school or online alternative, you will not incur any accommodation and food costs so will not need to remove this fee element from the module fee before you apply to ELCAS for ELC funding.

If you are studying an undergraduate module and paying the standard fee in England or Wales, you will be eligible for the total ELC funding available for the module as you will be charged an additional residential school fee, separate to the module fee, to cover the accommodation and food cost element of any integral face to face residential school you attend, which you will need to self-fund.

For any non-integral residential school, students will have to self-fund as ELC funding does not cover standalone residential school fees. For more information, please contact us at: partnerships-enquiries@open.ac.uk.

Once your ELC claim has been approved by ELCAS, you will receive a Claim Authorisation Note (CAN). This must be emailed to the Student Recruitment Partnerships Team with your completed registration agreement and details of your payment option (where applicable) for the remaining 20% by your reservation expiry date. You will find this on your Student Home page. Please contact us if you need further information, particularly if you are not able to register by this date.

YOU MUST NOT COMPLETE YOUR REGISTRATION ONLINE.

You can make a module reservation on the OU website to book your place, but you MUST NOT complete your registration online as ELC funding is not one of the online options. You can also phone us to make a module reservation, but you MUST NOT complete registration over the phone unless you have received your Claim Administration Note (CAN) and sent us a copy of this by email. ELCAS is a special scheme which is administered by the Student Recruitment Partnerships Team who process all student registrations where ELC funding is the method of payment.

The Student Recruitment Partnerships Team email address is partnerships-enquiries@open.ac.uk.

If your module has an integral residential school, please check the residential school FAQ.

Please DO NOT register online if you wish to pay with ELCs. You can only change your payment from personal payment to ELC funding if you are given specific permission from the MOD, and you must attach confirmation to your ELC Claim Authorisation Note (CAN).

You can still study with us if you are posted abroad as most OU courses are available for study in Europe, with many also available outside Europe. Information is available on the Help site on Student Home that may be of use includes the following:

1. Exams and EMAs
2. Residential schools outside the UK
3. Completing your exam outside the UK

Please contact us if you need any advice and guidance.

The fees published on the ELCAS website are for students eligible to pay the England fee in the current academic year. If you are posted abroad and we ask you to undergo a fee assessment, you may need to adjust your Claim Authorisation Note (CAN) if you are eligible to pay a different fee.