International students repeatedly tell me that it can be difficult for them to contact the Student Support team (SST), and that it can be very expensive when calling from outside the UK. International students also told me that they are not able to use the Scheduled Contact Service used by the SST, as the system does not allow international phone numbers. This is all something I have experienced myself as well.
Consequently, I have been liaising with OU staff in charge of the SST over the past one and a half years, and I would like to share the result of these discussions.
Due to financial constraints, it is unfortunately not possible to extend the opening hours of the SST. However, on the positive side, international students are now able to use the Scheduled Contact Service. Even though the system still does not allow international phone numbers, a workaround has been put in place to enable international students to use the system. I will give more details below, as well as an overview of the different ways students can contact the SST.
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1 Scheduled Contact Service
Students can book an appointment with the SST through the Scheduled Contact Service, and choose a date and time (one-hour time frame) for an advisor to call them. In order to book the appointment, students will first need to receive a link to the booking system. Students can request this link from the SST, either by email or via chat. An SST advisor will then send the link to the student by email.
As previously mentioned, the system does not allow international phone numbers, but the workaround for international students is as follows.
International students need to enter their phone number in the text box on the page “What do you want to talk to us about?” (please see screenshot).
On the page “What number should we call you on?”, international students need to enter any 11 digits in the phone number field (e.g. 01234567890) (please see screenshot). As the phone number field does not allow international phone numbers, a fictitious phone number needs to be entered to be able to proceed with the form.
Once these steps have been followed, the student will be able to confirm their booking. Please note that in the “Review and confirm your booking details” section, the fictitious phone number will appear. However, this is not a problem. The SST advisor will still call the international phone number previously provided by the student in the text box.
I tested the system myself recently and I am happy to say that I was able to book an appointment, and that an advisor contacted me on the date and time I requested. Being able to use the Scheduled Contact Service is a considerable improvement for international students, as they will not need to pay for expensive phone calls anymore. Furthermore, it is a quick way of getting in touch with the SST. I found there were plenty of slots available in the booking system, and I was even able to have an appointment on the same day that I received the booking link.
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2 Requesting a call back
Students can request a call back from the SST by using the “Requesting a call back” option in the OU Help Centre. The student will need to choose their subject area at the bottom of the page, after which a form will open.
This is different from the Scheduled Contact Service. Students cannot choose a date for the call, nor an exact time. Students can only indicate if they would prefer to be called in the morning or in the afternoon. The SST will aim to complete the call back within five working days, but during busy periods it may take up to ten working days.
The advantage of this option is that it is an inexpensive way of contacting the SST. However, as it can take some time before speaking to an advisor, it is not suitable for urgent queries.
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3 Email
Students can contact the SST by email. The contact details can be found under “Contact the OU”. The SST aims to respond within five working days.
The advantage of this option is that it is an inexpensive way of contacting the SST. However, it may take several days to get a response, so it is not suitable for urgent queries.
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4 Webchat
Students can contact the SST via webchat. The contact details can be found under “Contact the OU”.
The advantage of this option is that it is an inexpensive way of contacting the SST and that it is suitable for urgent queries. Please note that the webchat option is only open during the SST opening hours.
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5 Telephone
Students can contact the SST by telephone. The contact details can be found under “Contact the OU”.
The advantage of this option is that it is suitable for urgent queries. However, it can be expensive for international students.
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