Open Universities Australia

University always seems like a super massive and scary ordeal, but Open Universities made it quite easy and an honestly enjoyable experiance!! 10/10 will be recommending to friends should they need advice :D

My experience with OUA was pretty good. Their methods for enrolling you are a little coercive, so if you are planning on calling them for some information, be prepared for them to try to enrol you immediately on that call. Following this, they will ask for all kinds of personal details, including your TFN and passport. Of course, this is very… Read more

intimidating, so don’t feel you need to rush into a decision. That call is important, so make sure you are taking thorough notes and asking questions, because if you do decide to enrol, you need to know what subjects/courses they are enrolling you in, at what university, and for what study periods. This information will be so helpful to have in future. If you do decide to enrol with them, I would recommend double checking with the university that you will be studying at and make sure you are scheduled in the correct study periods and in the way that you want. I can see how some people have been enrolled in a course by a OUA rep over the phone without totally understanding the financial implications, only to later find out they owe a full subject cost on HECS for something they didn’t actually study. This is just because things can be confusing if you’re not switched on in the call and aren’t double checking with the university what you’re enrolled in.

Despite this, I never had an issue contacting an OUA representative when I had a question, and I was sent constant reminders to my phone and email about enrolments and study periods. I even received a follow up call to ensure I was happy and well set up, and whether I had any questions. They were very patient with me over the phone, so don’t hesitate to call them even just to clarify something. I have completed my Undergraduate Certificate in Health Sciences because of the help of Open University, and their willingness to support mature aged students find the pathway that suits. I will be starting a degree at a university soon, and am grateful for this opportunity which Open Universities gave me.

We looked to the advice and instructions from Open Uni for my homeschooled daughter after she'd completed her year 10 via homeschooling. She wanted to attend Uni and Open Uni counseled us that, for her chosen path, at her chosen uni, she could take any two courses and, if she received a high grade, she'd be able to enter her path as an official… Read more

student at her chosen uni. This did not happen. She took two courses at two different universities - offered on Open Uni - on their advice. Received High Distinction grades. Still knocked back from being considered at her chosen uni because "both courses were not at their university". So we essentially wasted money on the course that was at a different uni - which she only took on the advice of Open Uni staff. Now taking a third course via Open Uni to even be considered by her chosen uni which was the whole point of everything she was doing. Wrote to them and opened a case and they shrugged it off. We have just wasted about an extra $1K. Do not recommend.

From anxious to optimistic and excited! – I'll preface this with a warning that this is a glowing review and I am probably going to sound over-complimentary but please know that I mean it very sincerely. Historically, I haven't had a great time with my university studies. I have chipped away at my Bachelor's degree at my local university with a mixture of on-campus and online units over… Read more

the past 9 or 10 years, but to date I still do not have the degree. The reason it has taken me so long is because I haven't been able to cope with full-time study and I have also suffered from health issues that kept forcing me to withdraw (and in some instances cop the 'failed' grade results).

I work full-time now. I'm in my dream job and in a better place in terms of my physical and mental health. I decided that I would look at giving university study another go.

I had interacted with OUA before but never followed through because the time wasn't right. I remembered OUA because I really liked their website, especially the search functions and how they standardise the information so that you can more easily compare course options rather than having to go to different universities' respective websites and hunt for the information.

Earlier today, I made contact with someone through OUA's website via the chat function. After selecting some initial options to identify the nature of my query, I was then able to actually message with a human and not a poorly programmed AI bot with pre-set answers the whole time like some other companies use!

I wrote some very long messages as I wasn't exactly sure what my questions were, and a person named Nick helped me. He gave me very considered yet concise responses and it helped me a lot. I was so encouraged that I agreed to speak to a student advisor about potentially going ahead with my enrolment.

Yvette called me and she was incredible. I couldn't sing her praises more. She was supportive, encouraging, professional... an endless list of positive adjectives. She didn't make any assumptions about my knowledge of processes despite knowing I had studied before and was very patient with me. I am now enrolled and I am SO excited to study. This is coming from someone who has a lot of shame, self-doubt and feelings of guilt about my relationship with university education. I strongly recommend that people go through OUA as their support so far has been second-to-none. I have already told my partner about it and he is considering making enquiries for his own education goals. Seriously, well done OUA! You're a credit to the higher education sector.

If only I was a decade or two younger! Even so OUA did not want to give up on me. Support and consideration and encouragement all the way to my deciding to withdraw. It had nothing to do with the service that I chose to withdraw.

Open Universities have been the very best in setting me up to study. They are very well-informed about the course I'm now enrolled in. They are extrememly supportive and positive. By far the best way to get started on university study.

I should have learnt from my first degree which stalled in the final year because OUA didn't offer required subjects even though the host university (Murdoch) did! I'm now doing a second degree through a different university and exactly the same experience. Subjects offered by the host university (UNE) are not available through OUA, and I… Read more

cannot register directly with UNE. But more crazy this time is that 'elective' units are pre-requisites for core (mandatory) subjects. But only through OUA, not through UNE. But alas, I can't enrol directly with the university. And to make matters worse, neither OUA or UNE are accepting any responsibility to fix this. So now I'm in limbo without being able to finish my final year for the foreseeable future. Use OUA at your own peril - register directly with the university instead.

The registration and application assessment is terrible. No contact, no updates, no organisation. It isnt these people alone. Tasmania Uni has held up the process even more so than OUA.

I am so upset. 1 third of the way into my course (I submitted my first assessment 5 days ago) and I've been advised that OUA have unenrolled me from the course because my USI wasn't updated. Going through my emails, I sent them the information they needed (proof of name change) and it was accepted. The representative that I spoke to confirmed that… Read more

they'd received the paperwork but was very reluctant to say much else. Now I need to wait for the resolutions team who "will get back to me early next week to see what they can do or I have to wait for June to enrol again"

To say that I'm gutted is an understatement.

Returning to the study scene after a (very) long time, was daunting. OUA held my hand from the start. I am based overseas, so there is a time barrier, and a communication barrier (email or chat only, as phone was difficult due to non wifi based services only) to a degree. These were just minor hurdles to get over, and I have now finished my… Read more

first semester, and enrolled in the second semester. I was not prepared for the amount of hours this course would undertake as I think my university added a few more hours than previously advised. Overall, I enjoyed my first couple of subjects and am proud of myself for completing them. If you have an opportunity to undertake addition studies, go for it! There is so much support along the way.

Just don't bother. Apparently there is a limit to how much help you can get. For the crap as stated on their website, such as '30 years' experience and such, when I called to follow up on the half dozen unanswered emails asking for a proper study plan (all I got as a response was exactly as on the website, like I can't read that?), their staff… Read more

member asked me to explain what 'inboxes' meant. How do these people have jobs? You can't answer emails, your rude to potential students who want a proper plan for their large financial investment (would you accept half answered questions from a car salesman on a car - it's about the same price for investment) and you have now cost a university a potential student. Do you have a contract with these universities? I bet you do, and perhaps they need to be told how you are damaging their reputation and refuse to assist potential students looking to make an investment in their education. Absolutely disgusting group of people, in my opinion.

Harassment from repeated unsolicited phone calls. I spoke to a young woman and after saying I wasn't interested, I said goodbye and she just hung up on me abruptly. They want to say hello but not good bye... To their commissions. It's completely put me off enrolling in any of their courses. Also there are so many 5 star reviews, they have to be fake.

Do not engage with this university. Show interest in a telesales call and find out 2 years later that you have been charged for a years study you didn't use. Any as for their communication and complaints process.....forget it. Great scam.

Used to be better. Need to pay to change units/withdraw now. Can no longer change subjects online, need to go through student advisers & pay. DO NOT ENROLL WITH OPEN UNI

Worst customer service experience – Worst customer service experience. I called earlier and spoke to Elisa, explaining that I wanted to know if my previous Diploma with the institution could be considered for CT (Credit Transfer) or RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning). I was met with a very brief response: "You need to enrol first, then submit an RPL." When I asked if that was all,… Read more

she simply replied, "That's it." No effort to provide further clarification, no interest in helping me explore other options. It felt like there was no care or consideration for my situation. Other universities I contacted were more than happy to assess my circumstances immediately. It’s clear that this institution, which has changed its name multiple times, may be facing deeper issues.

Stay away! Scam – Stay away! It's a scam! My daughter made an enquiry back 2021, years later I find out from my accountant my daughter has a hecs debt, we were unaware of, for a course she didn't commit too. There was absolutely no communication in the last 3 years at all. My daughter rang to complain, was given a log in to find in writing, her course was… Read more

cancelled and did not proceed by OUA. Without her knowledge OUA obviously obtained funding from the GOVERNMENT and now my daughter has a debt. We are taking this further to expose this deceiving practice! I believe their is a lot more people in the same position dealing with the same issues.

UNSAFE FOR WOMEN – Not safe for women employees. I lost my employment bcoz of this one senior n his politics despite great behaviour and performance. Over ladt 8-10 months, i had been complaining abt his behaviour even requested a team change but nothing was done, instead recently got my work under review n during this period also he was given all control over what… Read more

work i could do n under his supervision i was supposed to show my performance for parameters different from everyone else doing same job- i was asked to score particular number of sales during the most quiet period was cut off all channels n made to call people who hardly picked calls and terminated. I was forced to hv direct conversations with this same person who had been bullying me at workplace n forced to hv one on one video interactions with him. No effort was made to change my team and falsely created a termination letter citing my performance and behaviour which all my colleagues are shocked about as I was behavibf great and cared for everyone and was super active plus I regularly performed like everyone else. A special set of rules were created just to terminate me bcoz i raised voice against this guy. I am getting msgs and calls from my colleages who are now concerned about at absence at work and are getting shockef at the reasons portrayed for my termination. Above all, most of them knew what this senior was doing n how he was bothering me and despite that I was terminated not him. I am going to take legal action against this guy working at OUA and also for how unfairly I was terminated and no effort was made to keep me away from him despite constant emails highlighting the issue and only time they gave me a separate team was when they had already made a mind to terminate. Terrible care for employees. Every month employees are mysteriously leaving and every now n then hiring occurs despite limited vacancies- this way of handling issues clearly shows why people suddenly stop coming to work n why they keep on hiring. Unfortunately, OUA does not care much for its employees and all it cares it to get rid of anyone who raises a voice n replace them.

Stay away – Easy to deal with when they are trying to sign you up, but once you are signed up and they are paid they have no interest in talking to you or trying to help. Especially if there is a problem. Go direct to the university you want. These guys are a massive scam.

No communication and unhelpful staff – Has to been the most frustrating experience It really was devastating the lack of communication between open universities and la trobe, no one we talked to seemed to want to help and ended up having to drop out due to their mis communication. I would recommend anywhere else but here to get education

Very mixed – I studied with OUA for 5 years. It was over 10 years since my former degree and I had young children. This was before the pandemic and a lot of University's online courses were sketchy. Macquarie University, who you can study with through OUA, have an excellent online program, however be aware that Universities treat OUA and online students like… Read more

second class citizens. Some universities offer courses through OUA which are no better than a TAFE course in terms of content. Although I thought I was completing the right subjects from my degree, and OUA assured me, many times, that I was, apparently I wasn't. I had to battle with the Macq University for 6 months before they would let me graduate and although OUA tried to help, they had little power. However, some of the OUA customer service reps are lovely. So a very mixed bag.

Might as well just watch a podcast, it would have more value than the course – Did the short course on "motivation and factors affecting motivation" It was terrible, took maybe 40 minutes not 5 hours like stated. It had maybe 2 paragraphs of useful info all the rest was common sense. It had one activity which required playing a video which highest resolution was 240 p. Why even offer short courses this terrible

Misled and difficult to withdraw from the course – I enrolled in a Uni course through OUA and found the initial process pretty straight forward compared to ECU. I explained I was looking for a course which is flexible to fit in with my current circumstances an I was very clear about this. I was recommended a course and was told it met my requirements. I have subsequently found it does not and I am… Read more

trying to withdraw from the course. I have been told I have to print and complete a form, really in 2024!

Resolution process on par with the worst government department – They will delete duplicate accounts and tell you after the fact while you have active enrolments. And then take 14 days to refund you the money when they take it out of your account immediately. The customer service people are not equipped to deal with this so they have to escalate it via a case with no time frame. They did this to me one week… Read more

before the start of the semester when the opportunity to re-enroll has closed. The only reason I found out was because I tried to log into my uni email and couldn't. Only to check my OUA registered email to find out this is what they have done. Poor form, stupid process. They essentially unenrolled me without consent, putting me out of pocket temporarily.

DONT EVER THINK TO STUDY ONLINE FOR A BACHELOR'S DEGREE WITH OUA DONT DO IT – I enrolled in 2015 with OUA for IT Bachelors Degree at RMIT with a Minor in Marketing with Swinburne, this experience with OUA and RMIT is been so stressful and frustrating the low level of customer service both parts offered that I am still studying and chasing both parts for a solution. I was enrolled with the idea to become a network… Read more

administrator but RMIT changed all curriculum towards programming all of a sudden while Swinburne does not offer more their subjects through OUA.

These are in my opinion some of the CONS and PROS

PROS You can study from anywhere The platform is reliable

CONS OUA communication between Universities and Students is 0, in others words OUA just do what is beneficial for them without advice the student OUA never update their website, in regards to what units are available and what not for the degree OUA call centre is like a Telstra call centre, they call themselves "Student Advisors" and they are just salespeople reading a script. One time looking for a piece of advice for my IT career, I ended up finding that the OUA's student advisor was a physiotherapist student, I felt like asking a baker what type of car I should buy OUA tutorials offered are terrible, for a semester only provided 6 hours of tutorial OUA will PASS any responsibility in regard to your degree to your university, OUA wash their hands immediately OUA hardly will transfer you to a Team Leader or similar, because everything is a "process" OUA does not display honest information in their platform for each subject, in regards to what level of expertise you require for X or Y subject OUA is just education sales NOT more they DO not TEACH at all OUA did not provide a study plan from the first term, this means your degree does not have a plan is an OUA brochure. Your study plan is basically your study path, so how comes a OUA does not provide information to other universities. On several occasion you call the Universities and don't approve any information that OUA provide you, so who should believe??

DONT CONSIDER THIS ONLINE OPTION FOR A LONG-TERM STUDY, A SHORT COURSE "MAYBE" BUT NOT FOR A 3 YEARS COURSE DONT DO IT, RETHINK MAYBE 4 TIMES BEFORE ENROLLING WITH OUA

Beware: stay away from OUA if you can, just apply straight to the uni – OUA promises a lot but when it comes to issues with the university they can not help at all ie: grants and entitlements that the university offers won't apply to you if you are enrolled via OUA, and there seems to be no other benefit of enrolling via OUA. Thus, stay away from OUA if you can, just enroll straight at the university