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Help with signing in to OU systems


Help with signing in to your OU home page


Your Open University Computer user name (OUCU) and Password

This is usually sent to you by letter when you register. Your user name is usually your initials (at the time you were registered with the OU) followed by numbers to make it unique and is in lowercase. The numbers 1 and zero are not used in the user name so if you think that you see these they will in fact be the letters L or O in lower case. The OUCU can’t be changed once assigned.

The password we send you is an initial password which you are forced to change this when you first sign in. You will have been required to set a password that is least 8 characters long and your password is case sensitive. It is your responsibility to keep it secure.

If you have not received your OU computer name and password letter then please contact the Initial Teacher Education ( ITE ) Support Centre on 01908 652564, or email http://pgce-centre@open.ac.uk

Forgotten your password

If you forget your password you can reset it online. Please follow the reset your password here link next to the password box and you will be prompted to enter the particulars given when you registered (the address may be your associated schools information). The Computing helpdesk are not able to see your password for data protection reasons so are not able to provide you with it but can help you with resetting it.

If you are able to log into the OU home page but cannot access the PGCE/ITE specific websites

You can contact the Computing helpdesk by going to the contact us section at http://www.open.ac.uk/students/helpdesk/ or emailing ou-computing-helpdesk@open.ac.uk

You will need to provide your security information and you will be asked to verify who you are so please make sure you have information to hand about your OU Computer Username, subject, particulars given when you registered and whether you are a PGCE/ITE Coordinator, Mentor or Tutor.


Trouble signing in, some things to try

  • Are you actually signing in to the right page don’t use a search engine like Google to find the page. Type in www.open.ac.uk/students to the address bar. This is right at the top where it starts http:


Yes or No

  • If you only type in www.open.ac.uk there is a drop down list to select student home if you do not select this you will not get in
  • Check that caps lock is not on
  • If you use numbers and enter them by the number pad check that the number lock is on
  • Clear the box and start again making sure you are not accidently hitting shift or other buttons accidently


Better Password security

To create a password that is stronger and more secure it is better if it contains at least three of the following

  • English uppercase characters (A - Z)
  • English lowercase characters (a - z)
  • Base 10 digits (0 - 9)
  • Non-alphanumeric (for example: !, $, #, or % but not | " £ or space or non standard keyboard characters).


Remember, the longer it is the harder it will be to crack but do not make it so long or complicated that you cannot remember it yourself!

What not to include

  • Don’t include your OUCU or personal identifier
  • Your name or other things that can be easily guessed about you
  • Something that can be found in a dictionary e.g. don’t use password instead Pw9wrdx! would be more secure
  • If you reset your password don’t keep repeating and just adding incremental numbers.
  • Do not allow your browser to save your password to the page since this is a security risk if others have access to your computer or if your computer is stolen.
  • Don’t use obvious substitutions e.g. one for L


Cookies you may see if you browse our site signed in

We use cookies to make sure our websites work effectively and to improve your user experiences on them. The cookies we set when you sign in are essential, without these cookies you will not be able to sign in to secure areas of our website. For more information on cookies used by the OU please see http://www.open.ac.uk/cookies

The Open University has computing code of conduct which can be found at http://www.open.ac.uk/university-documents/computing-code-of-conduct.htm