International and UK partners

The Open University Business School works collaboratively with a range of academic initiatives, professional bodies and commercial organisations. Some of our partners are listed below.

Major UK professional accountancy bodies

The Open University Business School's Centre for Financial Management maintains continuing links with some of the major UK professional accountancy bodies to ensure that synergies between their examination programmes and our own are fully exploited and work to the advantage of our students.

The Institute for Social Marketing (ISM), which is supported through a partnership of The Open University and Stirling University, is concerned with the study and dissemination of social marketing theory and practice.

Arab OU

The Arab OU licenses a range of Open University Business School courses which are used to deliver the BA in Business Studies. In December 2003 the Arab OU achieved accreditation from the Open University Validation Service.  The headquarters are in Kuwait and the six University branches are based in Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, with twenty two Arab countries eventually planned to be involved in the project.

New Bulgarian University, Bulgaria

The School of Management is a Faculty of the New Bulgarian University. Students study the Professional Certificate and Diploma in Management in Bulgarian, taught by local tutors. Both programmes are validated by the Open University.

The British Council & Ministry of Education, Ethiopia

The Open University Business School's Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) is delivered through the British Council and the Ministry of Education in Ethiopia. The courses are taught in English by Open University tutors.  Residential schools and exams are held locally.

Open Management International

The Open University Business School and OMI have formed a partnership to deliver the Professional Certificate and Diploma in Management Programmes in the Czech and Slovak Republics. OMI delivers the programmes in the Czech and Slovak languages for an Open University award.

The Centre for Open Distance Education for the Civil Society, Romania

CODECS is The Open University Business School's partner in Romania. CODECS deliver the Professional Certificate and Diploma in Management in the Romanian language for an Open University award. The Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) is also offered via the partnership and is taught in English by CODECS and Open University tutors.

The International Institute of Management LINK, Russia

IIM Link and the Open University Business School have been in partnership for fifteen years.  IIM LINK deliver the Professional Certificate and Diploma in Management Programmes in the Russian Language for an Open University award.  The Masters Degree in Administration (MBA) is also offered by the partner and is taught in English by Open University tutors.

eDegree South Africa

eDegree is The Open University Business School's partner in Africa delivering the BA (Hons) Business Studies for an Open University award.

NetLearning Inc

NetLearning Inc and The Open University have formed a partnership to promote the OU MBA in Japan from November 2010. NetLearning will act as a representative in the market, concentrating on marketing and advertising the programme locally, managing local logistics and providing immediate student support. Students will be directly registered with The Open University, with the OU retaining all responsibility for quality and for the provision and delivery of all content, including tuition.

The Open University also works with a diverse range of global partners. To find out more, please visit the OU's Global Partnerships website.