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Changes to policy and curriculum

Show all changes for 2014/15

General Qualification Regulations 2014/15 (Registered qualifications)

Warning: the content within this page reflects the information that was available to students in the 2014/15 academic year. As such, this information may no longer be factually accurate.

Some of the general regulations for undergraduate students have been changed, which may affect students either now or during their future Open University study.

These changes are mostly about time limits for completing a degree and for using credit transfer from studies at other institutions.

The changes made

The General Qualification Regulations (GQR) have been updated to include clarifications and some new terminology. The main changes are:

  1. The time limits for completing an ordinary Open degree (300 credits) and an Open degree with honours (360 credits) are now the same at 16 years.
  2. The time limit for completing an undergraduate qualification that includes transferred credit now depends on how much credit you still have to achieve

The time limits sliding scale

  • Students who, after their credit transfer award, have 30 to 60 credits still to complete are given a time limit of 4 years
  • Students who, after their credit transfer award, have 90 to 120 credits still to complete are given a time limit of 7 years
  • Students who, after their credit transfer award, have 150 to 180 credits still to complete are given a time limit of 9 years
  • Students who, after their credit transfer award, have 210 to 240 credits still to complete are given a time limit of 12 years
  • Students who, after their credit transfer award, have 270 to 300 credits still to complete are given a time limit of 14 years
  • Students who, after their credit transfer award, have 330 credits still to complete are given a time limit of 16 years.

The length of time that students take to complete their qualification is normally calculated from when they start their first module counting towards their qualification. This applies even if they do not claim the qualification until later.

The progression rules have been amended and simplified, and can be viewed fully in the General Qualification Regulations - (GQR 4.1.1 and GQR 4.3)

Please talk to your Student Support Team if you need any further information. You can find out how to contact them on Contact the OU.