Home Page

Welcome to The Open University and UNISON Partnership website – the site designed for, and in consultation with, OU students, UNISON members, Learning Representatives and Officers!

This site will tell you all you need to know about our learning offer, and will guide you through the help and support you can expect from the partnership at both a national and local level.

  • Funding guides you to valuable information about help and support to pay for your studies
  • Learning Zone gives you access to current OU learning materials and resources
  • Organising helps you to investigate ideas on how to get projects up and running locally

Access to Success

Q: Do you live in England?
Q: Do you have an annual household income of less than £25,000
Q: Are you looking for an affordable and low risk route to higher education?
If you answered yes to these questions, are new to the OU and have not already got a university-level qualification you could be eligible to apply for an Access to Success Route place.

FlexiLearn

Are you looking for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities?  Perhaps you're interested in getting a feel for what studying with the Open University is like?  FlexiLearn is the exciting new partnership offer which enables you to try out some real OU course materials, completely free of charge. Follow the links below to find out more, or visit our Learning Library, home to all our DIY and Discussion 'Bite' materials.

HCA Learning & Development

Announcing the launch of the OU's brand new learning pathway for healthcare workers working at bands 2-4 on the Career Framework! 
If you're a healthcare assistant, support worker or assistant practitioner, this exciting new learning offer, puts you in the driving seat by letting you choose the pace and direction of your studies, dependent on your individual needs and ambition.
Click here to find out more or visit our HCA pages below.

Fees and funding

Changes are happening to how higher education (HE) is funded in the UK.  Arrangements for funding are different across the four Nations of the UK, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.  As a result, for the first time, the OU has introduced different undergraduate fees across each of these Nations, reflecting the varying levels of funding available. Visit our Fees and funding page to find out what this means for you.