The Open University

As a major international provider of higher and vocational education,The Open University has a vast bank of resources which are widelyaccessible to both individuals and employers. These include: courses and qualifications; OU Business School and its business network; student testimonials; careers advisory service; alumni association; credit transfer and credit rating services; research and consultancy and library.

Facts and figures about the OU

• Founded in 1969 to deliver high quality degree-level learning through communications technology
• World's first successful distance teaching university
• UK’s largest university with 150,000+ undergraduate and 30,000+ postgraduate students
• Ranked among the top 5 UK universities for the quality of its teaching
• Rated in the top two of all UK institutions in the 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 student satisfaction surveys
• About 70% of undergraduate students are in full-time employment
• More than 50,000 students sponsored by their employers
• More than 25,000 OU students live outside the UK
• Vibrant research and enterprise portfolio, much of which is highly relevant to the business community
• Most OU courses are available throughout Europe and some in many other parts of the world

Courses & qualifications

OU qualifications are modular to allow flexibility. You can opt to:

1. study a single course without committing yourself further
2. take several courses, one after the other, until you have a qualification
3. take a break between courses
4. mix and match courses to reflect your interests.

OU Careers Advisory Service

For individuals, this service provides professional careers and educational advisers in every UK region to support your course choice and career planning.

If you are already an OU student, you can listen to the views of major employers, access a 'What employers want - online career forum' (read only), or take part in a simulation of a panel interview.

The employers section of the Careers Advisory Service website could be very useful if you would like to:

1. recruit OU students and graduates
2. find out about the labour market
3. understand more about the OU student profile
4. sponsor employees' professional and management development.

Alumni Association

The association is for the world-wide OU community, and was launched in May 1998 with the first issue of a monthly alumnus magazine and the creation of the OU Alumni website. Alumni of The Open University are defined as those who have successfully completed a course and who are not currently studying.

Credit transfer and Credit rating

1. The Student Registration and Enquiry Service provides assessment of whether an individual’s previous academic work can be used as ‘credit’ to reduce the number of OU courses necessary to complete a qualification
2. The Credit Rating Service provides the opportunity for external organisations to have their own programmes and courses (training, work-based learning, continuing professional development etc.) assessed for recognition in the form of academic higher education credit (a general credit rating).