in the West Midlands
THOUSANDS of OU students are missing out on huge savings on train travel, accommodation
and entertainment - because most don't realise they're available.
Anyone who studies more than 15 hours per week for at least 26 weeks per year
is eligible for the International Student
Identity Card (ISIC) which offers more than 900 discounts in the UK and
28,000 across the globe.
Owning a card can get you discounted rates on useful items such as car hire,
ferry crossings, car breakdown services, currency exchange, books and phone
calls. But you car also save money off days out - including free entry to English
Heritage properties and discounted admission to Alton Towers. An ISIC card will
even get money off at four hotel chains across Europe.
The card, issued by STA Travel, is similar to the NUS (National Union of Students)
card issued to full-time students in brick universities. But although most Open
University students are not eligible for NUS membership because the OU is not
affiliated, many don't realise they can enjoy similar benefits with an ISIC
card.
OU learners' eligibility was proved after a German student was initially refused
one but successfully appealed against the decision.
Sascha Rehm from Uberlingen had been granted an ISIC card in 2003 because STA
mistakenly believed he was taking his degree in Molecular Science at Newcastle
University. When they discovered he was an OU student, they turned him down
saying The Open University was not recognised in Germany, and a German students'
travel agency also refused to back him because the OU was "exotic".
But ISIC staff confirmed the 31-year-old was eligible for the card because he
studied more than 15 hours per week - although it took an appeal to the German
Ministry of Culture, which said it ranked the OU on the same level as any German
university, before he received it.
The card currently costs £7 for a 15-month membership from September to
the following December. Pick up a form at your local college, call 08701600599
or visit www.isiccard.com
Return to OUSA Card page