The Oxford Open Learning Trust Reviews 147

All information was excellent and well laid out in the folders.

I studied for IGCSEs in English and Maths last year. I was thoroughly happy with the initial assistance, the materials provided and the subject tutors. Despite studying in Spain, I found the process quite straightforward and extremely satisfying. I'm also delighted to say that I passed both exams!

I found OOL to be very helpful and is quite ideal for people who work full-time and can't sit in reqular classes. I managed to revise in preparation for the GCSE's with ease and flexibility with their relevant and extensive study materials. Assistance from the assigned tutors are also very efficient and prompt. I am glad I went for OOL, I was able to pass my exams with flying colours.

I had a positive experience studying with OOL. I studied AS/A2 Sociology, condensing the course into nine months rather than the usual two years, and I was well supported as I did so. My tutor was friendly, helpful and had great subject knowledge. I would say that the folder of notes provided by OOL was patchy in terms of quality - some of the sections were good but many didn't appear to have been written by a specialist in the subject and didn't seem to fully address the curriculum. I didn't really use it, except as an introduction to the topic, preferring to learn from the recommended textbooks instead. Booking my exams was easy, thanks to the helpful literature the company sent out and, as I achieved an A* at the end of it all, I was pleased with the return I got on my investment!

The course was relatively easy to follow, and my tutor Robin was friendly and helpful, which made life easier. Good range of courses, although my only criticism would be the fact that OOL does not offer a German course. Fortunately, I was able to find a IGCSE German course elsewhere.

Subject folders excellent, easy to read and understand . The test modules where very good but had to wait a long time for them to be marked .
Had no contact with my tutor apart from her marking my modules. Pleased with the answer papers which I received after each module.
Happy with the course but it is hard work and I had to put plenty of hours in each week in order to complete the course.

Excellent and really helpful tutors. Amazing administrative team.

Resources allowed for step by step progress and I got an A* in 9 months.
My tutor was very supportive
Worked very well for me as I wanted to work at my speed and not go to a college.
I would recommend if you are independent and self motivated. Works less well if you need lots of encouragement

I retook both my Maths and English GCSE with Oxford Open Learning and had such a positive experience with them! The course content was set out in a way that was structured and easy to understand and the tutors were so helpful. I managed to get an A for my Maths (when I started I didn't even know how to do long multiplication) and an A* for my English! I would recommend them to anyone

Very supportive and encouraging tutor. Always prompt at marking and returning coursework. Very good course materials with examples and exercises/homework and the video clips help explain some of the principles.
Didn't feel part of a class which would have added to the experience. Even though the Tutor was on Google + there was very little contributions from anyone else on the course so I have no idea who else was doing the course and what difficulties/tips they had. So quite a 'lonely' experience.
The most frustrating part was trying to find an establishment that would accept me as an external Candidate - local schools and colleges were not interested and I eventually found a private school that would take me.
Having passed the exam with a better grade than expected I can recommend the course and the experience. But you need to work hard to succeed.

2 folders full of work
Not clear enough notes - if I didn't have someone at home who could explain to me I would never understand it all
Would be good if answers showed full workings. If you're struggling this would really help
Tutor was more worried about cost of call than helping to workout issues
Introduction from tutor said we would have regular calls - think I had 2/3 over the year - none of which were helpful

A thorough coverage of all the topics. Sometimes there was questions set which were beyond the scope of what was needed.

Tutors feedback is fantastic.

Really good resources and tutoring. Only complaint is that (at least in the 'A' level) there are a few mistakes in the questions and layout. Also, as a suggestion, it might be a good idea to include some lined jotter paper in the resource file.

successful course

I found OOL very helpfull and their course really worked for me. I was able to achieve an A *.

Overall very good. The learning materials are of a good standard and the course follows a logical progression with good combinations of listening, reading and writing activities. In principle the tutorial support is also good although I had some problems with my first tutor who was unreliable in terms of agreed appointments and it was a few weeks before I was advised they had left the organisation. The replacement tutor has been reliable and overall I think the price paid for the course is fair, although the price of entering the exams (nothing to do with OOL!) is high for a private candidate.

Cannot recommend highly enough. I studied for the IGCSE Spanish and completed the course easily within a year achieving an A star. Course content was excellent well structured covering all the major vocabulary and grammar which is essential when learning a language from scratch. There is the added bonus of being assigned an offline tutor who marks the assignments and is always on hand to assist . Thoroughly enjoyed learning Spanish via the Oxford Open Learning proramme

The course was a massive folder and most of it was unnecessary. There were loads of mistakes that had to get sent back to the other and the paid tutor, isn't really tutoring you, she's just marking you.

Very helpful, friendly tutors who are on hand to help. Helped me to go on and achieve an A* . Good informative pack. If I could give any advice it would be to book the external exam centre very early.