You Said, We Did
How your voice has made a difference
This page provides an opportunity to see the valuable feedback received from students across a wide range of communication channels, and to see what the OU has done in response.
Please note this video is now a couple of years old so some people no longer have the same title. The current Students Association leadership can be seen on their website.
Choose a topic from the drop-down list below to see how students can have an impact on their university experience and be empowered to help shape the University. Next time you are asked to give your opinion, you know that the OU is taking this feedback seriously and will respond.
You said...
For more than half of students, their overall study aims were career-related
We did...
Our EEES Employability Lead is working with the Careers and Employability Service to connect students with employers and resources. Employability is now embedded in the design process for new modules.
Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences
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You said...
Accreditation for degrees was valuable, enhancing both employability and credibility.
We did...
In November 2020 we gained CIWEM accreditation for 6 of our Environment qualifications; we have also applied for IES accreditation for 4 of these same degrees.
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You said...
Learning outcomes are most useful when they are related clearly to specific assessment questions or tasks.
We did...
We held 2 discussion meetings on marking practices in EEES in 2021, including tutor and student views. We have rewritten the degree learning outcomes for Q52 Environmental Science so that they are more concise. We have also written degree learning outcomes in the same style for M05 Master of Environmental Science and R53 Geology.
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You said...
you wanted you wanted better advice on which modules are right for you.
We did...
in the 20/21 academic year, the health and social care programme ran a module chooser event for students selecting their next module.
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You said...
that starting with university study and moving between levels can be challenging
We did...
ran a pilot of a module with the soft start of ‘opening early’ with tutor support. We also expanded our summer skills transition programme to include our healthcare and health sciences programme. We have focused our mentoring programme on the first three months of study.
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You said...
there are limited opportunities to interact with other students on your modules
We did...
… we have experimented with alternative and less obtrusive methods to interact. Specifically, via social media (K102 and K219) and through discussion tools embedded in the learning guides (KE322 and K102)
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You said...
You did not feel connected and felt that having a sense of belonging was not an essential part of your learning experience with the OU
We did...
We will work more closely with LAL Community buddies and Events champions to organise and promote more community-building events on LAL Study Home site.
We are in the process of recruiting Peer Support Volunteers amongst students who will help promote and run these events and self-help groups.
LAL central academics and staff tutors will continue to provide and promote interactive events on Student Hub live and take on board your feedback on what topics and activities you’d like to see featured.
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You said...
You asked for one-to-one compulsory speaking sessions with the tutor
We did...
We are in the process of recruiting Peer Support Volunteers who are either native or competent speakers of the target language, or students who have completed the module to help coordinate and facilitate speaking sessions on Study Home site to promote cross module and cross level conversation groups.
We’ll be putting on extra catch-tutorials for slower-paced students (already offered in some modules).
This year, we are introducing our Peer Support Volunteers Badging Scheme. The hope is that this will give us a pool of students willing to facilitate conversation groups (amongst other activities).
On many module websites, under the Resources page, there is an Online Student Room which allows students to enter without tutor presence to practise speaking etc.
On the School’s Study Home site, there are two different types of rooms: the LAL Student Common Room and LAL Student Events Room which give students’ host rights. You can use these rooms to meet your fellow students across the school.
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You said...
You mentioned challenges of disability with regards to communication and challenges in relation to language learning
We did...
We are establishing more close working relationship with the Disability Support Team (DST) with a view to improve the communication between DST, Module Team and tutors. We will explore if Disability Support Team information can be provided on the Student Profile page (email, telephone number).
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You said...
You requested for designated tutor support for pastoral care for the whole learning journey
We did...
The School is supporting and advocating for the roll-out of the Personal Learning Advisor scheme, so that as many students as possible can benefit from it.
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Latest Opportunities
Student Consultation Meetings 2025 - Get involved!
United Kingdom and online
National Student Survey 2025
Online/Virtual
