Fees for 2015/16

We are announcing today the fees which will apply in the next academic year (from 1 September 2015 to 31 August 2016).
Existing Students
For existing undergraduate students, there is very little change. Fees will increase by an average of about 1.3% – meaning that a typical course unit will increase by either £10 or £15.
Existing students fall into two groups:
For UK students who started after 1 June 2012, the fee for level 1 course unit will increase from £995 to £1,010. We will protect these levels of fees for this group – by this we mean that provided you continue to study towards a degree, your fees will increase broadly in line with inflation until you graduate. The increase this year is the first increase in two years.
Lower protected fees apply to students who started before June 2012 and the typical increase is £10.
New Students
For new undergraduate students fees will unfortunately increase significantly. For UK students the fee for a level 1 course unit will increase by £200 to £1195 and there are similar increases at levels 2 and 3. The total fees for all three levels will increase to just over £9,500.
The fees for our Foundations courses will stay unchanged.
We are also taking this opportunity to simplify our fee structure and are abolishing the distinction between fees charged to students in the EU and in the rest of the world. This means a few students outside of the EU will see their future fees either frozen or slightly reduced.
Why are fees for new undergraduate students going up?
We set the broad fee levels for our undergraduate courses in the spring of 2012 and since that time we have made only small adjustments for inflation. In 2012 we factored in the known costs of providing degree tuition and assessment and we had to make assumptions about the external costs such as quality assurance. Since late 2014 it has become clear that the Higher Education policy environment has changed and these external costs are going to increase.
For example, to protect the reputation of UK Higher Education, the Government moved inspection by the Quality Assurance Agency for small colleges like the OCA from a once every three years process to an annual one. We believe that this is the right thing to do – everyone needs to know and trust the standards in Higher Education – but it is an expensive change. Not only do we need to pay fees, we need extra staff to prepare the documentation.
Since all of these additional costs are associated with our degree programmes we see no need to increase the fees for Foundations courses and we are using the OCA’s reserves to protect existing students.
We have thought of some of the questions you might have and here are the answers:
Can I become an existing student and get protection from the fee increases?
Yes, we know many students consider enrolling with the OCA for many months before taking the plunge. If you are not a current student, you can start your studies now and gain protection from the fee increases. There are two important deadlines:
If you enrol before Friday 31 July, you will become a protected student for your degree studies.
If you enrol between 1 and 31 August, you will get the course you enrol on at the current fee but future courses will be at the new fee levels.
Does becoming a protected student mean my fees are fixed?

No, students have up to 12 years to complete a degree and no College could fix fees for that period of time. What it means is that your fees will increase broadly in line with inflation. Since inflation is at historically low levels any future increases are likely to be small.
You say that we can get protected fees provided we continue to study – what does this mean?
It means that each academic year you must do one of following three things:
– enrol on a course, or
– submit an assignment to your tutor, or
– submit a completed course for assessment
Is there a table listing all fee levels?
Yes you can download it from here
Will students still be able to get loans to cover the cost of fees?
Yes, providing you meet the Government’s eligibility criteria
Will students paying their own fees still be able to pay by instalments?
Yes and we are looking into the possibility that students who are not sure if they want to study for a degree can pay for tuition only and then only pay for assessment when they are sure.
When will you announce MA fees for next year?
Annual MA fees will increase from £2,335 to £2,365, an increase of 1.3%
I didn’t know the OCA was subject to external inspection, can I see the latest report?
Yes, you can download it from the Quality Assurance Agency website here
If you have other questions please ask below. If you want personal advice about your future fees please email enquiries@oca.ac.uk