Not as good as it used to be

Peony's Response to marco9's Review

Written on: 22/05/2015

My niece in her early 20’s got a 1st at a local college her final pass was averaged out at 71% for a first! (the minimum was 70% for a first). She has now got a very good job which she enjoys, lucky girl. Her sister did the same degree but did not do as well and could not get work.

Elusive first or even elusive 2:1 is hard to obtain with the OU.

My experience is that the OU does some mean tricks to keep students grades down I have found out: this year, in the middle of the course, my tutor suddenly started knocking 3 marks off four answers with no real feedback, just putting the same non-academic abrupt short remark against the answers with no indication of which part of the answer he meant or any information for me to rectify it in the next assignment. The assignment included a project timetable which to me was easy marks and I had perfected it. To my surprise he meanly knocked one mark off with no reason, so 13 marks knocked off the assignment for no reason. Caused me to lose a grade by 8 marks.

(There is an appeals process but I made the decision to press on with the course, as my experience is if you start objecting to things, it can be very disruptive to time, thinking and also stressful.)

But the course let slip some remark on the course web site they mark according to percentages of how many students are getting such and such grades! So, I guess if too many are getting high marks the tutors are told to mark down.

I have some evidence of this as my husband took an OU degree previously and one of his tutors said at the tutorial one day that the Regional Centre had told him to start marking the assignments down and the tutor said he did not agree with it but was obliged to comply.

To get a 1st with the OU, you really need a whole year at Level 3 of 1st class pass. There are other combinations, if you get a lot of grade 2's plus a 1st of half a year each of Level 2 and Level 3 you may end up with a First.