Creative Music Making: guidance for students

CTLU302 Creative Music Making

Our collaborative module Creative Music Making is offered in partnership with Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. It is a compulsory module in the R25 BA (Hons) Music degree and an optional module in some other Open University qualifications, as described below. As this module is owned and administered by Trinity Laban rather than The Open University, it is subject to some different regulations in terms of registration, finance and credit transfer. All students planning to study this module should read the information below carefully before applying to Trinity Laban. Open University students should contact their Student Support Team (SST) in the usual way with any queries relating to counting this module towards an OU qualification. Queries regarding finance or the content of the module itself should be directed to Trinity Laban (contact details below).

At a glance…

The module was developed by Trinity Laban in partnership with the OU’s Music Department
Trinity Laban’s title for the course is Creative Music Making (CMM)
It is worth 60 credits at OU level 3
It is a one-year, part-time module (October to May)
The module is compulsory in the BA (Hons) Music (R25). It is optional in the BA (Hons) Arts and Humanities (R14) and BA Open (QD)
The regulations for the BA (Hons) Music (R25) degree permit students to study CTLU302/CMM in addition to the usual limit of 240 non-OU credits in recognition of prior learning (credit transfer). On the BA (Hons) Arts & Humanities (R14) and BA (Hons) Open (QD) degrees, CTLU302/CMM counts towards students’ non-OU credit limit of 240 credits. This means that you can only be awarded up to 180 credits in recognition of prior learning if you wish to study CTLU302/CMM as part of R14 or QD.

Pre-requisites

OU students must have passed A224 Inside music, A232 Music, sound and technology, A234 Understanding music, or A342 Central questions in the study of music before studying this module, and should have completed stages 1 and 2 of their degree
Students must play an instrument or sing (at any standard in any genre) and make music regularly with at least one other person, who does not need to be a student, throughout the programme
There is no audition.

Course outline, tuition and assessment

Four blocks of online distance learning
Online group tutorials and discussion forums
A residential learning week in Greenwich, London (this is held close to Easter each year; the dates for 2023/24 are 2-7 April 2024, inclusive)
Four written assignments and a personal project submitted with associated audio material.

What to expect

The module is owned and administered by Trinity Laban. This means that while studying the module, day to day module support will be provided by Trinity Laban. This includes questions related to what the module is about, how it is taught, and assessment.
Students enrolled on the module can get help from their OU Student Support Team in relation to future study and careers advice.
Students will have online access to the Jerwood Library of the Performing Arts. Due to licensing reasons, students cannot access online materials via the OU Library (unless they are also studying an OU module).
Trinity Laban will share limited student data including assessment outcomes with the OU. Each student’s name and end of module grade will be shared by Trinity Laban with the OU for the award of collaborative credit.
Any complaints about the modules will be handled by Trinity Laban. Students should follow the procedures they set out.
Students enrolled on the module will remain able to interact with the wider OU Music community via the Music forum, on the Arts and Humanities Study website, and will retain access to their StudentHome page.
The credits gained from the module must go through an additional credit transfer process to be counted against your OU degree. As a result, students taking CTLU302 as their final module will receive their degree results slightly later than other students. Students will not be able to book a degree ceremony until the result is confirmed and their eligibility is shown on StudentHome.

Enrolment, fees and student finance

Fee (2023–24): £4,100 (including cost of accommodation and meals at residential learning week)
Applications are via UCAS Conservatoires (conservatoire code: T75; course code: 501M)
CTLU302/CMM is eligible for funding from Student Finance England, Wales and Northern Ireland; see below for further details. Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) will not provide funding for CTLU302/CMM, so students resident in Scotland will have to self-fund the full fee for this module.
- Student Finance England: a Tuition Fee Loan covering the full cost of the programme is available.
- Student Finance Wales: the maximum Tuition Fee Loan available for part-time study is £2625 (22/23), so students will have to self-fund the remainder f the fee. Eligible students in Wales can also access Part-Time Maintenance Funding.
- Student Finance Northern Ireland: the maximum funding available for part-time study towards tuition fees is £3296.25 (22/23), so students will have to self-fund the remainder of the fee. Eligible students in Northern Ireland can also access a Course Grant.
The Student Loans Company course code is 724934 (CTLU302/CMM is categorised as 0.5 years' full-time equivalent).
Tuition Fee Loan (TFL) funding is only available to cover study with one learning provider in any one academic year, therefore students using loan funding to cover module fees will NOT be able to study at full-time intensity at Level/Stage 3 where they are studying CTLU302/CMM. This is because the OU and Trinity Laban are separate learning providers. It will therefore take 4 years to complete for any student using a Tuition Fee Loan to pay for their studies.
BEFORE applying for Student Finance for CTLU302/CMM please read Trinity Laban’s guidance about Fees and Student Finance in the FAQs.
Please ensure you apply for finance for Trinity Laban, NOT the Open University.