Teaching and learning lexicon

O

Office for Students (OfS) is the independent regulator of higher education in England. Visit the OfS website.

Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) is an independent body set up to review student complaints against universities, which is free to students. Visit the Office of the Independent Adjudicator website.

Official Documents is the term used for referring to such documents as Council Tax Exemption Certificates, Confirmation of Attendance Letters, Verifications, Academic Transcripts, Replacement Degree Certificates and Invitation letters etc.

Open Educational Resource (OER) are teaching and learning materials that are freely available online for everyone to use, whether you are an instructor, student or self-learner.

Operational Priorities identify key targets, actions and milestones for the next twelve months.

Optional Course Units are free choice course units, or electives.

Oracle Financials is the finance system used at the University.

Ordinary Bachelors Degree an undergraduate award of 300 credits. 

Originality Check in Turnitin helps academics check students’ work for improper citation or potential plagiarism by checking the work against documents held in a text comparison database.

Originality report is generated by Turnitin each time a piece of work is submitted to it. Report highlighting matching text of the student’s assignment with that held in the Turnitin database.

Originality statement is the Faculty’s preferred default position to provide a reminder of the declaration that the work submitted is their own, every time a student submits a piece of work electronically.

Orientation is a programme of events held in September to help overseas students settle into Manchester. Read more about orientation.

Outstanding Academic Achievement Award (OAA) - Each year the top 0.5% of the undergraduate graduating year are recognised by The University of Manchester. Successful students receive a monetary award and a certificate. The Faculty of Humanities also recognises those students who achieve an overall degree average of 75% (or above) but who have not been identified to receive an Outstanding Academic Achievement Award.  These students receive the Dean’s Award for Achievement which consists of a certificate, presented at the relevant graduation ceremony, and a monetary award.

Outstanding Contribution to Peer Mentoring and PASS Scheme of the Year Awards recognises the work of those who have gone the extra mile to develop the peer support scheme they work with. Both staff and students who engage in peer support can be nominated for this prestigious award. 

The Outstanding Scheme Awards are a series of five awards which aim to reward schemes in specific areas; Community, Collaboration, Innovator, Legacy, and Resilience.