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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