Equality, diversity, and inclusion

The Open University places social justice and equality at the centre of all we do. We are committed to extending opportunities for educational success to every potential student who wants to achieve their ambitions.

Public Sector Equality Duty Report

A key focus of our work is ensuring that people from Scotland’s most disadvantaged groups and communities can access higher education at any stage of their lives in order to help improve their work and life opportunities.

We work in partnership with many third sector organisations to reach people from the most deprived areas, people with disabilities and chronic health conditions, carers, ethnic minority groups, and people with care experience. We embed support into our curriculum design and delivery at every stage of the student’s learning journey. 

Our Public Sector Equality Duty determines and evidences how we meet our obligations under the Equality Act 2010. Equality outcomes aim to achieve specific and identifiable improvements in people's life chances, eliminate discrimination and foster good relations.

Read our report for the period 2021-2025: The Open University in Scotland Public Sector Duty Report 2021-2025 (.pdf).

We see this as a dynamic document which will be regularly updated as our strategic goals develop and new activities are agreed.

If you would like to find out more about this report, or have any feedback you’d like to share, please contact:

• Kitty Chilcott, Strategy Manager (Scotland), kitty.chilcott@open.ac.uk
• Kate Signorini, Depute Director (Strategy, Planning & Resources), kate.signorini@open.ac.uk

First Minister’s National Advisory Council on Women and Girls 

The Scottish Government established the National Advisory Council on Women and Girls to help advise the First Minister on how to drive forward action to tackle gender inequality in Scotland. Its objectives are to play a leading role in raising awareness of gender inequality in Scotland, act as a champion for positive progress and policies that are making a meaningful difference to the lives of women and girls, and be a catalyst for change.

The OU in Scotland’s #GenerationEqual pledge (updated in 2023) has a particular commitment over the next three years to tackling harassment and sexual misconduct in the student and staff community.

British Sign Language Action Plan

Scotland’s first British Sign Language (BSL) National Plan was published in 2017 setting out a national ambition to be the best place in the world for BSL users to live, work and visit. We are committed to supporting the implementation of this plan, ensuring we meet our BSL obligations and providing an inclusive service to our students. Our British Sign Language plan (.pdf) was developed with support and training from deafscotland, the BSL (Scotland) Act 2015 Partners and the FE/HE Participation Officer at Deaf Action.

Corporate Parenting Plan

The OU is Scotland’s ‘widening access university’, offering flexible higher education to people from the widest possible range of backgrounds. Our commitment to supporting our care experienced students is part of our ethos and purpose.

The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 (part 9) places statutory ‘corporate parenting’ responsibilities on all post‐16 education bodies. 

Our Corporate Parenting Plan also aligns with the OU-wide Access, Participation and Success policy, and our Outcome Agreement with the Scottish Funding Council.

The Open University in Scotland's Corporate Parenting Plan (.pdf)

Further information

Further information about equality and diversity at The Open University can be found on our Equality and Diversity website, which includes information about our Equality Scheme, our outcome-focused equality objectives and our equality statistics. You can also read the Open University's anti-racism statement and anti-discrimination statement.