diff --git a/src/CourseAuthoringPage.jsx b/src/CourseAuthoringPage.jsx
index ae9cfd4f3..1e0dfa62a 100644
--- a/src/CourseAuthoringPage.jsx
+++ b/src/CourseAuthoringPage.jsx
@@ -1,11 +1,15 @@
 import React, { useEffect } from 'react';
 import PropTypes from 'prop-types';
 import Footer from '@edx/frontend-component-footer';
-import { useDispatch } from 'react-redux';
+import { useDispatch, useSelector } from 'react-redux';
 
 import Header from './studio-header/Header';
 import { fetchCourseDetail } from './data/thunks';
 import { useModel } from './generic/model-store';
+import PermissionDeniedAlert from './generic/PermissionDeniedAlert';
+import { getCourseAppsApiStatus, getLoadingStatus } from './pages-and-resources/data/selectors';
+import { RequestStatus } from './data/constants';
+import Loading from './generic/Loading';
 
 export default function CourseAuthoringPage({ courseId, children }) {
   const dispatch = useDispatch();
@@ -19,17 +23,28 @@ export default function CourseAuthoringPage({ courseId, children }) {
   const courseNumber = courseDetail ? courseDetail.number : null;
   const courseOrg = courseDetail ? courseDetail.org : null;
   const courseTitle = courseDetail ? courseDetail.name : courseId;
+  const courseAppsApiStatus = useSelector(getCourseAppsApiStatus);
+  const inProgress = useSelector(getLoadingStatus) === RequestStatus.IN_PROGRESS;
+  if (courseAppsApiStatus === RequestStatus.DENIED) {
+    return (
+      <PermissionDeniedAlert />
+    );
+  }
+
+  const AppHeader = () => (
+    <Header
+      courseNumber={courseNumber}
+      courseOrg={courseOrg}
+      courseTitle={courseTitle}
+      courseId={courseId}
+    />
+  );
 
   return (
     <>
-      <Header
-        courseNumber={courseNumber}
-        courseOrg={courseOrg}
-        courseTitle={courseTitle}
-        courseId={courseId}
-      />
+      {inProgress ? <Loading /> : AppHeader()}
       {children}
-      <Footer />
+      {!inProgress && <Footer />}
     </>
   );
 }
diff --git a/src/CourseAuthoringPage.test.jsx b/src/CourseAuthoringPage.test.jsx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..26e844353
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/CourseAuthoringPage.test.jsx
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+import React from 'react';
+
+import { queryByTestId, render } from '@testing-library/react';
+
+import { getConfig, initializeMockApp } from '@edx/frontend-platform';
+import MockAdapter from 'axios-mock-adapter';
+import { getAuthenticatedHttpClient } from '@edx/frontend-platform/auth';
+import { AppProvider } from '@edx/frontend-platform/react';
+import { IntlProvider } from '@edx/frontend-platform/i18n';
+import initializeStore from './store';
+import CourseAuthoringPage from './CourseAuthoringPage';
+import PagesAndResources from './pages-and-resources/PagesAndResources';
+import executeThunk from './utils';
+import { fetchCourseApps } from './pages-and-resources/data/thunks';
+
+const courseId = 'course-v1:edX+TestX+Test_Course';
+let axiosMock;
+let store;
+let container;
+function renderComponent() {
+  const wrapper = render(
+    <AppProvider store={store}>
+      <IntlProvider locale="en">
+        <CourseAuthoringPage courseId={courseId}>
+          <PagesAndResources courseId={courseId} />
+        </CourseAuthoringPage>
+      </IntlProvider>
+    </AppProvider>
+    ,
+  );
+  container = wrapper.container;
+}
+
+const mockStore = async () => {
+  const apiBaseUrl = getConfig().STUDIO_BASE_URL;
+  const courseAppsApiUrl = `${apiBaseUrl}/api/course_apps/v1/apps`;
+  axiosMock.onGet(`${courseAppsApiUrl}/${courseId}`).reply(403, {
+    response: { status: 403 },
+  });
+
+  await executeThunk(fetchCourseApps(courseId), store.dispatch);
+};
+describe('DiscussionsSettings', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    initializeMockApp({
+      authenticatedUser: {
+        userId: 3,
+        username: 'abc123',
+        administrator: true,
+        roles: [],
+      },
+    });
+
+    store = initializeStore();
+    axiosMock = new MockAdapter(getAuthenticatedHttpClient());
+  });
+
+  test('renders permission error in case of 403', async () => {
+    await mockStore();
+    renderComponent();
+    expect(queryByTestId(container, 'permissionDeniedAlert')).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/pages-and-resources/PagesAndResources.jsx b/src/pages-and-resources/PagesAndResources.jsx
index 4bb8e00f7..bca2272f3 100644
--- a/src/pages-and-resources/PagesAndResources.jsx
+++ b/src/pages-and-resources/PagesAndResources.jsx
@@ -14,7 +14,9 @@ import ResourceList from './resources/ResourcesList';
 
 import { fetchCourseApps } from './data/thunks';
 import { useModels } from '../generic/model-store';
+import { getLoadingStatus } from './data/selectors';
 import PagesAndResourcesProvider from './PagesAndResourcesProvider';
+import { RequestStatus } from '../data/constants';
 
 function PagesAndResources({ courseId, intl }) {
   const { path, url } = useRouteMatch();
@@ -25,9 +27,12 @@ function PagesAndResources({ courseId, intl }) {
   }, [courseId]);
 
   const courseAppIds = useSelector(state => state.pagesAndResources.courseAppIds);
+  const loadingStatus = useSelector(getLoadingStatus);
   // Each page here is driven by a course app
   const pages = useModels('courseApps', courseAppIds);
-
+  if (loadingStatus === RequestStatus.IN_PROGRESS) {
+    return <></>;
+  }
   return (
     <PagesAndResourcesProvider courseId={courseId}>
       <main className="container container-mw-md">
diff --git a/src/pages-and-resources/data/selectors.js b/src/pages-and-resources/data/selectors.js
index ce02809ad..311550b9a 100644
--- a/src/pages-and-resources/data/selectors.js
+++ b/src/pages-and-resources/data/selectors.js
@@ -2,3 +2,4 @@
 
 export const getLoadingStatus = (status) => status.pagesAndResources.loadingStatus;
 export const getSavingStatus = (status) => status.pagesAndResources.savingStatus;
+export const getCourseAppsApiStatus = (status) => status.pagesAndResources.courseAppsApiStatus;
diff --git a/src/pages-and-resources/data/slice.js b/src/pages-and-resources/data/slice.js
index c84533fcb..890a0bdf1 100644
--- a/src/pages-and-resources/data/slice.js
+++ b/src/pages-and-resources/data/slice.js
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ const slice = createSlice({
     courseAppIds: [],
     loadingStatus: RequestStatus.IN_PROGRESS,
     savingStatus: RequestStatus.SUCCESSFUL,
+    courseAppsApiStatus: {},
   },
   reducers: {
     fetchCourseAppsSuccess: (state, { payload }) => {
@@ -19,6 +20,9 @@ const slice = createSlice({
     updateSavingStatus: (state, { payload }) => {
       state.savingStatus = payload.status;
     },
+    updateCourseAppsApiStatus: (state, { payload }) => {
+      state.courseAppsApiStatus = payload.status;
+    },
   },
 });
 
@@ -26,6 +30,7 @@ export const {
   fetchCourseAppsSuccess,
   updateLoadingStatus,
   updateSavingStatus,
+  updateCourseAppsApiStatus,
 } = slice.actions;
 
 export const {
diff --git a/src/pages-and-resources/data/thunks.js b/src/pages-and-resources/data/thunks.js
index 4f19cc14e..46471282b 100644
--- a/src/pages-and-resources/data/thunks.js
+++ b/src/pages-and-resources/data/thunks.js
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import {
   fetchCourseAppsSuccess,
   updateLoadingStatus,
   updateSavingStatus,
+  updateCourseAppsApiStatus,
 } from './slice';
 
 /* eslint-disable import/prefer-default-export */
@@ -24,9 +25,10 @@ export function fetchCourseApps(courseId) {
       }));
       dispatch(updateLoadingStatus({ courseId, status: RequestStatus.SUCCESSFUL }));
     } catch (error) {
-      // TODO: We need generic error handling in the app for when a request just fails... in other
-      // parts of the app (proctored exam settings) we show a nice message and ask the user to
-      // reload/try again later.
+      if (error.response && error.response.status === 403) {
+        dispatch(updateCourseAppsApiStatus({ status: RequestStatus.DENIED }));
+      }
+
       dispatch(updateLoadingStatus({ courseId, status: RequestStatus.FAILED }));
     }
   };