Short answer first: the Open University puts part-time study at 60 credits a year and around 16 to 18 hours a week, and full-time study at 120 credits and around 32 to 36 hours. Each module is assessed through TMAs, which your tutor marks, and iCMAs, which are online question sets, and ends with an exam, an end-of-module assessment (EMA) or a final TMA. Your tutor can agree a TMA extension of up to 21 days. An EMA gets none. At least one online tutorial recording is made available for each learning event. Plan every TMA backwards from its cut-off date.
This article covers the mechanics of OU study and how to organise a week around them. It leaves out fees and funding. The rules come from the OU's own policies and Help Centre pages as they stood in September 2026, and your module's assessment strategy on StudentHome has the final word on how your own module is marked.
How many hours a week does OU study take?
OU study is built around module materials, online tutorials and assignments rather than lectures, so your weekly hours are the only timetable you have. That is the main difference from a campus degree, where semesters, reading weeks and exam periods shape the week, as described in planning your study around the UK academic year. The OU gives its figures per year of study.
- 60 credits a year is part time. The OU's Help Centre puts part-time study at around 16 to 18 hours a week, which is one 60 credit module or two 30 credit modules a year. At that rate an honours degree usually takes six years.
- 120 credits a year is full time. Full-time study is around 32 to 36 hours a week, for example two 60 credit modules together, and an honours degree usually takes three to four years.
- Full-time work sets a ceiling. The same page advises anyone in full-time employment to study no more than 60 credits a year, and recommends that nobody studies full time in their first year.
- Your tutor is part of the package. Each module has a tutor who marks your assignments, answers your questions and meets your tutor group online or in person.
| Credits a year | OU study mode | Study time a week (OU figure) | Honours degree usually takes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60, such as one 60 credit module or two 30s | Part time | Around 16 to 18 hours | 6 years |
| 120, such as two 60 credit modules | Full time | Around 32 to 36 hours | 3 to 4 years |
The OU's weekly figures are for a year of study, not for a single module. If you take one 30 credit module on its own, work out its load from the credit instead. The QAA's credit framework puts one credit at typically 10 hours of notional learning, so 30 credits is about 300 hours. Divide that by the weeks between the module's start and its final assessment, and you have a weekly figure to plan with.
What are TMAs and iCMAs?
Continuous assessment is the set of assignments you complete while you study a module. The OU's TMA and iCMA Policy, in force since 1 July 2025, describes the two most common kinds and the rules for submitting them. The assessment tab on your module website tells you which kinds your own module uses.
- TMAs are marked by your tutor. Tutor-marked assignments are usually essays or short-answer questions, and can also be reports, speaking tasks or slides. You submit one file, or one zip file, through StudentHome, and it can be no bigger than 10MB unless your module guide says otherwise.
- iCMAs are online question sets. Interactive computer-marked assignments are answered on the module website, and most allow only one attempt. Some give feedback after each question, some after the cut-off date and some not at all. Scores for most arrive within seven days of the cut-off.
- Not every score counts. Formative assignments do not count towards your module result, although you may still have to submit them or reach a threshold. Summative assignments count. The assessment strategy on StudentHome shows how each one is weighted.
- The deadline is 12:00 UK time. TMAs and iCMAs are due before 12:00 on the cut-off date, with a 12-hour grace period to 23:59 for technical problems. A TMA that arrives after that may not be marked, and your tutor may record no score.
- Substitution is rare. In a small number of modules, a low or zero TMA score is replaced automatically at the end if that helps your overall continuous assessment score. Check the assessment strategy before you count on it.
The grace period is for a failed upload, not for finishing the essay, so treat 12:00 as the deadline and aim for the day before. One more rule changes how you submit. Once you have submitted, your tutor can collect the TMA at any time before the cut-off date, so submit the finished version and not a draft you mean to replace later.
Is an EMA the same as an exam?
No. Every module ends with a final assessed task, and the OU's End-of-Module Assessment Policy names three kinds: an exam, an end-of-module assessment, or an end-of-module TMA, which is the last TMA on a module that has neither of the other two. The assessment strategy tells you which one your module has, and the difference matters from the first week.
- An EMA is extended independent work. The policy lists essays, projects, portfolios and dissertations as the common forms. A link to the EMA guidelines booklet is sent 4 to 6 weeks before the submission date.
- An exam is time restricted. It has a set start time and a submission window that is typically 2 to 4 hours and can be up to 24, as the module team decides. Some exams are invigilated by an online provider, and you are told if yours is.
- An EMA has no extensions. The policy says extensions to the cut-off date are not available under any circumstances. If something outside your control affects your work, the route is a Special Circumstances form, which goes to the Module Result Panel.
- Late costs 10 points. An EMA submitted in the 24 hours after the grace period is marked with a deduction of 10 percentage points, which cannot take it below the pass mark. After those 24 hours it is not marked at all.
- A resubmission is capped. If you do not pass the EMA but meet the other module requirements, you are normally offered one resubmission, with the result capped at the lowest passing grade. Not every module offers it.
The two need different preparation. An EMA rewards the same planning as a long TMA, with no extension to fall back on at the end. An exam rewards retrieving and applying what you know under time pressure, and that is built week by week across the whole module. Knowing which one you face decides how you take notes from the first unit onwards.
Are OU tutorials recorded?
Many are, under the OU's policy for recording online tutorials, effective from September 2025. The policy's aim is that students have access to a recording of each learning event, while staff who are uncomfortable with recording are not obliged to record their own sessions.
- At least one recording per learning event. At least one online tutorial recording in each learning event is made available, apart from agreed exceptions. The policy's example: if four tutorials are offered for TMA 01, at least one is recorded and at least one is not.
- The title tells you. Each tutorial is labelled recorded or not recorded when you book it, and staff announce at the start of a recorded session that it is being recorded.
- Some parts are never recorded. Breakout rooms are not recorded by default, and recorded tutorials end with an unrecorded section for questions. Sessions for one-to-one support, language practice or drop-in questions may not be recorded at all.
- Recordings arrive within days. The OU aims to upload them within 2 to 3 days. Students who were eligible to attend can download them for personal study, and must delete their copies once the module result is final.
- Your own recording needs a reason. Students must not make their own recordings of tutorials unless they have a requirement for reasonable adjustments, such as a disability.
Go to the live tutorial when you can. The unrecorded questions at the end are where your own confusion gets answered, and a recording cannot do that for you. Use the recording for the tutorial you could not attend, or for the section you want to hear again while you write the TMA it was built around.
How do you use the study planner?
The study planner on your module website is the week-by-week route through the module. The OU's study tips for online-only modules suggest using it to check the items you will work on each week. They also suggest deciding which material to download and what can only be done online, and looking out for activities where you are expected to work with other students at a set time.
The weekly planner check
- Book a fixed 20 minutes. Use the same slot every week, such as Sunday evening.
- Open the study planner. List this week's items with a rough time next to each one.
- Put anything live in the calendar first. Tutorials and group activities have fixed times, and everything else can move around them.
- Place the rest in your study slots. Give the heaviest item the longest slot.
- Check the next cut-off date. Write down how many study weeks are left before it.
If the list does not fit into your week, decide now what gets a lighter pass, rather than finding out on Thursday night. A reading-heavy week can be skimmed the first time through, as long as you return to the sections the next TMA depends on before you start writing it.
How do you take notes without lectures?
On the OU, the module materials do the job a lecture does elsewhere, so your notes come from reading, watching and working through activities. The OU's standard support includes module materials in several formats, among them EPUB ebooks and printable Word and PDF versions, and module websites that work with screen readers. The study tips suggest making notes on your computer with annotation software, and point out that printing an online-only module means missing its audio, video and interactive parts.
Notes that answer the next TMA
Read the TMA question before you study the units it covers, then take notes to answer it:
- write the question at the top of the page;
- note only what bears on it, with the unit and page or screen reference next to each point;
- after each session, close the materials and write three questions you can now answer from memory;
- mark anything you do not understand and take it to the next tutorial.
Notes made this way turn into an essay plan with little extra work. The questions from memory are active recall, and they make exam revision lighter later. If a disability makes note-taking harder, tell the OU. Standard support covers the alternative formats above, and under the recording policy students with a requirement for reasonable adjustments may make their own recordings of online tutorials.
How do you plan a TMA backwards from its cut-off date?
Every TMA has a cut-off date on the module website, and the extension rules reward planning. The TMA and iCMA Policy lets your tutor agree an extension of up to 21 days, and more only in exceptional circumstances with faculty approval. Ask as soon as you know, because a tutor may not see a request made at short notice. The final TMA before the exam or EMA gets an extension only in exceptional or serious circumstances, and never past the first day of the month the module ends in. If a disability is the reason, you can ask for up to three weeks on that final TMA.
| Time before the cut-off | What to do |
|---|---|
| 3 weeks | Read the question and any guidance notes. Study the units it covers with the question in front of you. |
| 2 weeks | Finish the units, draft a plan from your notes, and attend or watch the tutorial for this TMA. |
| 10 days | Write the full draft in one or two long sessions. |
| 1 week | Leave it for two days, then revise it against the question and the word limit. |
| 3 days | Check references and formatting. If you need an extension, ask your tutor now. |
| 1 day | Submit, and note the receipt number shown on screen. |
The policy explains why the last row matters. The 12-hour grace period exists for technical trouble, and a TMA that lands after 23:59 on the cut-off date may get no score at all. Submitting a day early turns an upload problem into an inconvenience. If one TMA goes badly, read your tutor's comments before starting the next, because they are about your work and nobody else's.
How do you fit study around work and family?
Start from the OU's own ceiling: 60 credits a year if you work full time, which is 16 to 18 hours a week. Those hours rarely arrive as one block, so build the week from fixed slots that stay the same, and tell the people you live with which slots they are. A shared calendar does that job better than a negotiation every Sunday evening.
One way to find 16 hours in a working week:
- two weekday evenings of two and a half hours, for new material;
- three short slots of 40 minutes, on a commute or at lunch, for reviewing notes and questions;
- a four-hour weekend block for TMA writing;
- a three-hour weekend block for activities and the planner check;
- two hours held back for the week that goes wrong.
That adds up to 16. The reserve matters more than it looks, because illness, a work deadline or a child's week off school will take a slot sooner or later, and a plan with no slack collapses the first time that happens. More on building the week itself is in how to make a study schedule.
When the week falls apart
Protect the TMA first. Do the reading the next TMA depends on, skip the optional activities, and write down what you skipped so you can return to it after you submit. If you are more than a week behind with a cut-off date coming, contact your tutor then, not the night before, because the extension is theirs to agree and they need notice. If the whole module has become unmanageable, your Student Support Team can talk you through options such as a deferral to a later presentation.
How do you revise for an OU exam?
The OU's revision guidance says to start early and keep revising as you study, a little but often, and to prepare a revision timetable. It suggests reviewing material one hour, one day and two days after you study it, which is a short form of spaced repetition. The practical steps follow from the OU's page on finding out about the exam.
- Find the specimen paper in week one. If your module has one, the OU says it will be very similar in structure to the real paper. Note the length, the sections, the question types and any compulsory questions.
- Order past papers if they exist. The OU says previous papers may be available for your module, and warns that the format can change from earlier years.
- Revise as you study. End each session with questions from memory, then return to them an hour later, the next day and two days after that.
- Build the timetable six weeks out. Give each unit time in proportion to its weight in the exam, and keep the last fortnight for practice.
- Practise answers against the clock. Use the specimen and past papers for the full time allowed, somewhere you will not be interrupted.
The exam paper itself is made available from the module website under the Assessment tab, so check that page, and the computer you will use, well before the day. If your module has an EMA instead, the same weekly recall still pays, because an EMA draws on the whole module and comes with no extension.
Where Notibo fits
OU study runs on module materials rather than lectures, so the useful side of Notibo is the file side. It turns PDF, PPTX and DOCX files into structured notes and flashcards with spaced repetition, and the OU offers module materials as printable Word and PDF versions. The method is in turning PDFs into notes and flashcards. Check what your module's terms allow before you upload its materials to any outside tool.
Recording is a narrower case. Notibo records audio, or takes a file you upload, and returns a transcript, structured notes and flashcards, but you may not record an OU tutorial yourself unless it is a reasonable adjustment, and the policy limits downloaded recordings to personal study. It does not spell out whether uploading one to an outside service fits that, so ask your Student Support Team first. You can try Pro free for 14 days, with 240 minutes of recording and no card. After that the free plan covers 30 minutes of recording a month. Pro is 9.99 euro a month or 88.99 euro a year, and uploads are capped at 50 MB. Files are stored in the EU, on Supabase in Frankfurt, while transcription and the AI notes run on US processors under standard contractual clauses.