Open College of the Arts

PsychoGeography and the Investigation of place is an interseting course. However, the overal experience of the 10 week course was severely mared by the OCA's awful virtual learning environment.

Stopped contact with me after I asked them to cancel my application. This was over a month ago. I last contact them around a week ago and no response. They told the SFE that I am in attendance when I am not. So they've claimed money that they weren't supposed to. They're claiming because I logged into my account that means I attended. Disgusting. I'm being held liable for this?

I really enjoyed the Language of Photography" course

Having completed the music degree, I highly recommend the music courses. The course material is well structured and the tutors are very engaged and supportive. There are also opportunities to get involved in creative workshops and collaborations (both online and in person), so distance learning doesn't have to be lonely!

I was not happy with the lack of communication from my tutor. I was trying to arrange an assignment date and it took 4 weeks to receive a response. I was told I needed to put in an official complaint if I wanted to change my tutor. I have studied at university and also distance learning with the OU in the past and the support you receive from tutors is good, plus if there is any issue it is sorted out quickly. After waiting 4 weeks for a response from my tutor and now having to wait a further two to three weeks to hear a response making a complaint I have decided to withdraw and study elsewhere.

I have just completed the Investigating Place short course. I was not sure what to expect, but I really enjoyed the course. I made a project taking images locally. I am now so much more observant about what is around me. I mainly used my phone for taking the images. There is no need for high photography skills. Some of the group were developing projects using a variety of mediums. Found it at the right level, to push me, but never felt overwhelmed. Enjoyed being in a supportive group and the regular online meetings. Always something new to learn.

The Open College of the Arts is best known for providing very flexible art degrees. However, if you would like to complete your degree within 4 years, I do not recommend this school. Their services are extremely slow, and I found that I would have to rely on other students for support instead. Their curriculum for some courses are being updated too, but they're releasing the units one at a time which pushes students back even further.Only a month within my course, the school announced that they were changing their accredited university to the Open University instead of University for the Creative Arts. I submitted a complaint hoping for consideration of a refund (I was only a month into my studies) only to be declined. I can't help but feel they did not properly consider my situation and see that it was obvious that it was because of them that I was forced to withdraw.Apart from that, I enjoyed the curriculum, though their strength is more on fine arts than graphic design (less industry focused, more independent practice). Tutor support is mainly good, but this depends on your tutor which can significantly vary. Like I mentioned, student support / services are very slow, so do not expect an immediate response. I recommend for people with other responsibilities or for those who do not consider school as their main responsibility.

I was a student on the ten week course 'Investigating Place: Journeys with Psychogeography,' which ran from October to December 2022. The course explored concepts and methods of psychogeography and how these could be applied to each student's investigation of a particular place of their own choosing. As students, we were encouraged to use any artistic method in our projects and as the course progressed, it became clear that a lot of exciting work was being produced. There were four Zoom conference sessions with the excellent tutor, who also at each stage of the course gave constructive and helpful comments as the projects progressed.I have been involved in aspects of psychogeography for about eight years and I signed up for this course in order to broaden and further develop my interest and work in this activity. I was not disappointed. There were sixteen students on the course and there were opportunities for discussion and comment on each of our projects. The ten weeks slipped by too quickly and I would have loved to have spent longer with the subject! However, I came away from the course with many ideas and prompts for future work which is exciting.If anyone is interested in exploring psychogeography; what it is, what it could be, and how it can be applied, I have no hesitation in recommending this course. It can certainly change your ideas about how a place is viewed and experienced, whether it's physical, virtual or imaginary! I came away from the course having produced a physical and online photography/poetry zine called BORDERLINE, as per the image. More work is now in the pipeline!