Understanding the impact of ongoing support for students returning to study after reaching Restricted status

• Project leader(s): Elizabeth Shakespeare Anthony Short
• Theme: Supporting students
• Faculty: Academic Services
• Status: Current
• Dates: April 2025 to July 2026

Student retention and continuation are key drivers for this project. They are also key focus areas for the University. Due to the diverse range of educational backgrounds that the Open University attracts and the Open Entry model, some undergraduate students fail to make sufficient academic progress. The University has an Academic Progress Policy that applies to all undergraduate students who fail or defer three modules in successive presentations of study without passing a module. Students in this situation are automatically put on a ‘restricted’ status, preventing them from registering on any further modules. If students want to continue studying, they must complete an application form and have a guidance conversation with an Educational Advisor. Depending on the outcome of that conversation, students may be given permission to undertake further study. 

Currently, support for students returning to study after being placed at restricted status isn’t consistent across Student Support Teams (SST). Some Educational Advisors may arrange follow-up calls with the students, while in other cases the onus is on the student to contact the SST if they need support. Usually, when students contact the SST, they are already in a difficult position to be able to continue. 

Analysis of student data has shown that students who have reached a restricted states are less likely to be successful than those who have not reached this status. The aim of this project is to see whether increased proactive support can improve pass rates and confidence for these students. The SST will arrange a series of scheduled calls (one per TMA initially) to students returning to four 30 credit D (May start) level 1 modules (T192; Engineering: origins, methods, context, T193; Engineering: framework, analysis, products, TM111; Introduction to computing and IT 1, and TM112; Introduction to computing and IT 2) with the potential to roll this out to further presentations of these modules plus additional level 1 modules (S111; Questions in science, S112; Science: concepts and practice, MU123; Discovering mathematics, and MST124; Essential mathematics 1). The framework of these calls will cover a series of questions around past, present and future experiences studying and will give students the opportunity to reflect on how their studies are going and whether any additional support is needed. If the results are positive, we would look to introduce this approach as standard practice across STEM (and possibly other SSTs) going forward.