Changes to policy and curriculum

Academic Regulations (Taught Courses) (July 2018 update)

Warning: the content within this page reflects the information available to students in the 2017/18 academic year. As such, this information may no longer be factually accurate.

In July 2018, the Open University made amendments to the Academic Regulations (Taught Courses). There are no substantive changes to regulations or policy, but this document supersedes and replaces the previous version, including for those students registered on a registered undergraduate or declared postgraduate qualification for which study commenced before or during the academic year 2016/17.

These regulations apply to students who:

• are registered with The Open University to study a taught course commencing from the academic year 2016/17.
• are registered on a module in the academic year 2016/17, 2017/18 or 2018/19.

These regulations do not apply to students who are studying towards a research degree or studying a non-credit bearing course (a short course).

A taught course may be either a qualification including any module studied as part of that qualification or a module studied as a standalone course. If a student is studying for a qualification, or if they intend to study for a qualification, they should also refer to the specific regulations governing that qualification.

If you are completing a declared undergraduate Open Programme qualification (BD, E60, K05) for which study commenced prior to 1 August 2012 and will be completed prior to the withdrawal of these qualifications on 31 December 2019, you should continue to refer to the “Regulations Applicable to Declared Undergraduate Qualifications” (Section J) of the previous version of the Academic Regulations, Academic Regulations (Taught Courses) from 2016 onwards (PDF, 967KB) until you have completed your qualification.

The changes made

1. The section “Regulations Applicable to Declared Undergraduate Qualifications” has been removed, along with all references to declared undergraduate qualifications. All named declared undergraduate qualifications were withdrawn in December 2017. If you are completing a declared undergraduate Open Programme qualification (BD, E60, K05) for which study commenced prior to 1 August 2012 and will be completed prior to the withdrawal of these qualifications on 31 December 2019, you should continue to refer to the “Regulations Applicable to Declared Undergraduate Qualifications” (Section J) of the previous version of the Academic Regulations, Academic Regulations (Taught Courses) from 2016 onwards until you have completed your qualification.
2. References to Recognition of Prior Certificated Learning (RPCL) have been replaced with references to Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), which also includes Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL).
3. A distinction has been made between a student’s right to cancel their registration or enrolment on a module or qualification (within 14 days of the date of the email or letter confirming The Open University’s acceptance of an application to register – “the Cancellation Period”), and their right to withdraw from their module or qualification. Previously, these were both referred to as “cancellation”.

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.